The judge said that Mr. Kim and his co-defendants embezzled billions of won from their customers’ accounts to employees’ accounts. Mr. Mo’s sentencing is pending confirmation by the Supreme Court.
A tragic ending for Coinnest
Coinnest was one of the top three exchanges in South Korea. Although the exchange wasn’t famous outside Asia, it generated huge profits in the country throughout the years.
According to Coinmarketcap, Coinnest most traded asset was Tron, with over $6 million daily volume. On the other hand, Bitcoin’s daily volume was $2.2 million.
However, the company came to a dead-end following the charges against its top executives. Coinnest closed its operations in April 2019.
South Korea is the center of the largest cryptocurrency markets in the world. However, due to the strict mechanisms imposed by Seoul authorities — South Korean exchanges couldn’t thrive outside Asia.
Furthermore, South Korean authorities are working on putting an end to anonymous trading through real identity verification.
