"To Prevent Voice Phishing Abuse" Bithumb and Other Exchanges Resume Withdrawal Delay System

Virtual asset exchanges such as Bithumb, Coinone, and Korbit will resume the previously suspended withdrawal delay system within this month. This measure is intended to prevent virtual assets from being used for voice phishing.

On May 8, the Financial Supervisory Service announced that it would strengthen the operation of the virtual asset withdrawal delay system. Bithumb, Coinone, and Korbit plan to quickly resume the withdrawal delay system within this month after revising their terms and conditions and updating their IT systems.

The virtual asset withdrawal delay system is designed to prevent cases where victims' funds from voice phishing are immediately converted into virtual assets and stolen. Under this system, users can only withdraw virtual assets to external wallets after a certain period of time has passed. For new users, withdrawals are only possible 72 hours after making a KRW deposit.

Virtual asset exchanges have been voluntarily implementing this system since 2019. However, Bithumb, Coinone, and Korbit suspended the system in the second half of last year, citing reasons such as reducing user inconvenience. Following the suspension, there was a sharp increase in the transfer of voice phishing victim funds via exchange-linked bank accounts.

In the case of Bithumb, the average number of monthly payment suspensions was 13 cases (26 million KRW) during the six months before the withdrawal delay system was suspended in September last year, but this surged to 402 cases (1.016 billion KRW) after the suspension. Coinone, which suspended the system in October last year, saw the number of cases increase from 3 (115 million KRW) to 83 (7.773 billion KRW). Even at Korbit, where there had been no previous cases, 29 cases (295 million KRW) were confirmed after the system was suspended in July last year.

The Financial Supervisory Service explained, "We plan to support the stable and consistent operation of the withdrawal delay system through measures such as establishing standard terms and conditions."