South Korea’s second-largest crypto exchange, Bithumb, could face a partial business suspension of up to six months after regulators flagged alleged anti-money laundering and customer verification failures. The country’s Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) issued a preliminary notice citing concerns over dealings with unregistered overseas virtual asset service providers and shortcomings in know-your-customer checks.

If finalized, the measure would mainly affect new users, preventing them from transferring digital assets off the platform. Bithumb says the notice is still at the pre-notification stage, meaning the final sanctions could change after a regulatory review scheduled for later in March.