South Korea's Financial Services Commission investigates Bithumb breach and plans stronger safeguards for virtual asset firms

South Korea's Financial Services Commission (FSC) has begun joint investigations into cyber incidents at major virtual asset firms, including Bithumb. At an emergency review meeting, Bithumb reported indications that information about employees of the exchange, its subsidiaries and partner companies had leaked following abnormal external access. Whether customer information was exposed remains under investigation.

According to Bithumb, the compromised system supported employees' work rather than core virtual asset trading infrastructure. No leak of wallet addresses or other information usable for fraudulent payments or virtual asset transfers had been confirmed. The FSC, Financial Supervisory Service and Financial Security Institute have begun investigations at affected firms. Supervisory measures will seek to ensure consumer protection, including full compensation if losses occur. Separately, investigations and victim protection measures will cover recently reported incidents at Mirae Asset Life Insurance and Mirae Asset Global Investments, alongside additional customer information leaks identified during the investigation at Daishin Securities.

The FSC also plans measures to bring security safeguards in virtual asset businesses and other sectors outside the Electronic Financial Transactions Act to levels comparable with banks and other major financial institutions, while strengthening readiness to respond to incidents promptly. Its earlier October cybersecurity reform proposals also addressed security gaps in sectors outside the Act.