'Selling Raises Suspicions'... Kim Nam-guk Suspected of Buying WEMIX Just Before Major Exchange Listing

Virtual Currency Community 'Byeon Chang-ho Coin Academy' Claims
Estimated to Hold 3 Wallets and 1.37 Million WEMIX Tokens
Significant Profit If Knew Upbit Listing in Advance

There are allegations that the timing of the investment in the cryptocurrency held by Kim Nam-guk, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, coincided with the period just before the cryptocurrency was listed on a major domestic cryptocurrency exchange where 80% of Korea's cryptocurrency trading takes place. Since listing on a major cryptocurrency exchange is a significant positive event, investors who know this in advance can make short-term profits by purchasing beforehand.

Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker Kim Nam-guk, who has been embroiled in controversy over holding virtual assets, is answering questions from reporters as he leaves his office at the National Assembly Members' Office Building on the afternoon of the 9th.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

According to the cryptocurrency industry on the 12th, an additional 100,000 WEMIX tokens were confirmed in a new wallet presumed to be held by Representative Kim. This wallet was discovered based on Kim's explanation. In a previous statement, Kim said, "I only traded transparently through my wallet." Following Kim's statement, the cryptocurrency community "Byeon Chang-ho Coin Academy" claimed that by tracking wallets that traded with Bithumb's wallet, a new wallet holding 100,000 WEMIX tokens appeared.

The wallet flagged by the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) for suspicious transactions and referred to the prosecution was Upbit's wallet, which held about 850,000 WEMIX tokens. Subsequently, a Bithumb wallet holding about 420,000 WEMIX tokens was additionally confirmed, and Byeon Chang-ho Coin Academy found one more wallet. As a result, it is estimated that Kim holds a total of 1.37 million WEMIX tokens across three wallets.

The transaction period of the newly discovered wallet is earlier than the two previously known wallets. The Upbit and Bithumb wallets showed WEMIX transactions between January and February of last year. However, Kim appears to have traded WEMIX from October 2021 through the newly discovered third wallet. As of October 2021, WEMIX was only listed on Bithumb and was not traded on other domestic cryptocurrency exchanges. Notably, it was listed on Upbit, which accounts for over 80% of domestic cryptocurrency trading volume, on January 11 of last year.

The cryptocurrency industry regards the Upbit listing as the biggest positive event. On the day of the Upbit listing, WEMIX's price nearly doubled from 5,926 KRW the previous day to 11,407 KRW. The market capitalization of WEMIX also exceeded 1 trillion KRW.

With the discovery of additional cryptocurrency wallets, Kim's explanations are becoming increasingly complicated. Kim explained in a statement that he invested a total of 1 billion KRW in cryptocurrency by selling LG Display stocks and adding his savings. Although he reported holding savings of 1.11581 billion KRW at the end of 2021, discrepancies have arisen due to the additional WEMIX tokens discovered. Kim has not provided further explanations regarding the newly discovered wallets and WEMIX holdings. Yoon Jae-ok, a member of the People Power Party, pointed out, "Considering the public outrage, forced investigation has now become inevitable," adding, "It seems even Kim himself does not know where the truth ends and the lies begin, as circumstances have revealed that he held an additional 2.8 billion KRW worth of coins beyond the already known 6 billion KRW."

Meanwhile, allegations of lobbying by the cryptocurrency industry across the political spectrum have also been raised. The Korean Game Society issued a statement the previous day saying, "There have been rampant rumors for several years that Play to Earn (P2E) companies have been lobbying the National Assembly," and called for "a full investigation not only of lawmakers but also their aides." Lee Jung-hyun, president of the Korean Game Society, said, "I do not think only Representative Kim holds cryptocurrency," adding, "Strong measures are necessary to restore trust in the National Assembly."

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