Bithumb and Coinone Extend Real-Name Account Issuance Contract with NH Nonghyup for One Year

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Jung-yoon] Domestic cryptocurrency exchanges Bithumb and Coinone have extended their real-name verified deposit and withdrawal account contracts with NH Nonghyup Bank for one year.

Bithumb announced on the 23rd that it has extended its real-name verified deposit and withdrawal service partnership contract with NH Nonghyup Bank for another year. In the anti-money laundering (AML) risk assessment review for contract extension, Bithumb received an improved evaluation compared to before, successfully extending the contract period from the previous 6 months to a 1-year term.

The requirements for contract extension have also disappeared. After receiving approval from financial authorities in September last year, Bithumb extended the real-name account issuance contract on the condition of introducing a whitelist within 60 days. However, in this re-contract, Bithumb confirmed that its AML system has been elevated to the level of commercial banks and completed the extension without any additional conditions.

Bithumb has been striving to strictly comply with financial authorities' regulations while finding ways for customers to trade comfortably. On this day, Bithumb also disclosed a whitelist that allows deposits for virtual asset service providers (VASPs) following the application of the Travel Rule. The Travel Rule is a recommended fund tracking regulation that requires exchanges receiving investors' cryptocurrency deposit and withdrawal requests to collect sender and receiver information.

The VASP whitelist supports withdrawals only to addresses registered with cryptocurrency addresses. Bithumb's whitelist includes 13 major overseas VASPs such as Binance, Coinbase, Kraken, and FTX.

Major domestic exchanges were also added to the whitelist. Since the Travel Rule system integration was delayed beyond the schedule, Bithumb decided to support cryptocurrency deposits and withdrawals among major domestic exchanges such as Upbit, Coinone, Kobit, and Hanbitco to minimize customer inconvenience.

A Bithumb official said, "With the contract period extended based on an enhanced anti-money laundering system, we have laid the groundwork to plan various businesses with NH Nonghyup Bank," adding, "Bithumb will continue to do its best to create an environment where customers can trade safely and conveniently."

On the same day, Coinone also completed the re-contract for issuing real-name verified accounts with NH Nonghyup Bank. The re-contract period for the real-name verified account this time is until March 2023, and unlike previous 6-month re-contracts, it is a long-term annual contract.

The background of the long-term contract is that Coinone received a good score during the risk assessment process for re-contracting with NH Nonghyup Bank. Coinone has continuously strengthened its anti-money laundering system by applying a whitelist ahead of the Travel Rule implementation.

Additionally, Coinone received appropriate opinions on all due diligence items including ▲user identity verification procedures and authentication methods ▲accident prevention measures ▲accident handling plans ▲abnormal transaction detection and control processes ▲emergency safety measures ▲user protection and internal control plans for personal information protection. Through this, Coinone proved that it has an anti-money laundering system comparable to that of financial institutions.

Cha Myung-hoon, CEO of Coinone, said, "This re-contract is significant as it is a long-term annual contract that enables stable exchange business in the future," adding, "Based on the long-established partnership and operational know-how with NH Nonghyup Bank, we will do our best to build an environment where customers can trade with confidence."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.