Five crypto exchanges from South Korea – Upbit, Bithumb, Coinone, Korbit, and Gopax – announced the removal of the coin at the same time, as reported by several Korean news outlets.
After LTC operators passed a resolution, Litecoin devs rolled out a privacy feature for the coin on May 20, called MimbleWimble Extension Blocks (MWEB). The privacy-oriented feature will make it possible to conceal transactional data. Users will now have the option to choose whether or not to make their transactions public.
The update seems to be an issue for Korean Exchanges because they are required to comply with strict South Korean regulations. Under the country’s Specific Financial Information Act, crypto exchanges must follow policies around KYC and Anti-Money Laundering (AML). It also prohibits anonymous transactions.
Upbit stated that the network upgrade is in conflict with the South Korean AML regulations, and it plans to end market support for Litecoin on June 20. After that, users will have a month to withdraw their funds from the exchange.
Similarly, Bithumb, in its delisting notice, stated that it is stopping all Litecoin transactions from June 8. Litecoin holders will have time till July 25 to withdraw the coin, after which withdrawals won’t be possible.
Litecoin is the 20th largest crypto by market capitalization. As per CoinGecko’s data, in the last 24 hours prior to the announcement, Upbit contributed to 11% of LTC’s trading volumes, which amounts to nearly 55 million USD.
Globally, Litecoin is available across all major crypto exchanges, including Coinbase and Binance. However, the move by South Korean exchanges might cast some doubts on the coin’s future.
