Paycoin Announces Service Suspension on the 5th... Injunction Application Dismissed

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Jung-yoon] Domestic virtual asset payment service Paycoin has announced a temporary suspension of its service.

According to the industry on the 4th, Paycoin stated in a notice, "On the 26th of last month, Paycoin filed for a suspension of execution against the Financial Intelligence Unit's (FIU) rejection of Payprotocol's virtual asset operator change report." It added, "However, the court dismissed the suspension of execution request, and therefore, the Paycoin payment service is scheduled to be temporarily suspended from 6 PM on the 5th."

It continued, "Only the Paycoin payment service will be temporarily suspended, while other services such as Paycoin remittance, shopping, and attendance check will remain unchanged and fully operational." It also stated, "At the same time, Paycoin is proceeding normally with the bank's real-name verification deposit and withdrawal account issuance process to resubmit the virtual asset operator change report."

Furthermore, it added, "We will continue to closely consult with the FIU to complete the change report as soon as possible and work towards normalizing the Paycoin payment service."

Earlier, the FIU announced that after reviewing the operator change report for Payprotocol, the operator of Paycoin, it rejected the change report for failing to meet the reporting requirements under the Specific Financial Information Act. The financial authorities viewed Payprotocol as a 'dealer' due to the nature of its business and had accepted Paycoin's virtual asset operator report last April on the condition that it change its registration from a wallet operator to a 'dealer.' Paycoin had been negotiating with banks for the issuance of real-name verified deposit and withdrawal accounts but reportedly failed to finalize the contract.

After the rejection, Paycoin filed for a suspension of execution with the court against the FIU. However, the Seoul Administrative Court Administrative Division 13 (Chief Judge Park Jung-dae) dismissed the suspension request the day before. A dismissal means that the case does not meet the requirements for litigation and the court concludes the procedure without examining the merits of the case.

Meanwhile, according to the global virtual asset market tracking site CoinMarketCap, as of 1:02 AM on the same day, the price of Paycoin had plunged 22.01% compared to the previous day, trading at $0.1278 (approximately 159 KRW).