Bithumb’s Owner is Reportedly Arrested

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The owner of crypto exchange Bithumb, Kang Jong-hyun, has been arrested in South Korea on suspicion of embezzlement and manipulating the stock price of several affiliated firms.

According to local media, a court issued a corresponding decision on February 2.

The Seoul Prosecutor’s Office issued at the end of last month an arrest warrant for Hyun and put him on the wanted list. According to investigators, his brother Ji Yong, the head of the subsidiaries of the exchange Inbiogen and Bucket Studi, helped him manipulate shares by issuing convertible bonds.

Security forces raided in October the offices of these firms, as well as the largest shareholder of Bithumb Holdings (34.2%), Vidente.