South Korea's Major Crypto Exchange Delists Litecoin

South Korea’s major cryptocurrency exchange delisted Litecoin (LTC) weeks after it upgraded its privacy protection product MimbleWimble (MWEB).

In a public statement on Wednesday, Upbit pointed out that the Specific Financial Transaction Information Reporting and Use Act, which prohibits anonymous transactions, was the main reason for its delisting of LTC.

The delisting follows a long-awaited MWEB upgrade that made LTC transactions more private, hiding some key identifiers. The upgrade was released earlier this year, nearly two years after it was first proposed.

The crypto exchange reached out to the Litecoin Foundation about the privacy-focused upgrade, and after a thorough review, the exchange decided to stop supporting LTC trading. Exchange users have 30 days to withdraw their LTC funds. Upbit stated in its official report:

“We have decided to terminate transaction support for Litecoin (LTC) because we have determined that an optional feature in network upgrades that does not reveal transaction information falls within the anonymous transmission technology under the Specified Financial Information Act.”

According to a report by 8BTC, the top five South Korean crypto exchanges Upbit, Bithumb, Coinone, Korbit and Gopax have delisted LTC.

Upbit and other major cryptocurrency exchanges warned investors in the last week of May, advising them of the regulatory risks associated with confidential trading.

South Korea has some of the strictest cryptocurrency regulations in the world, with the Specific Financial Information Act being one of them. According to the regulations, crypto exchanges must enforce strict know-your-customer (KYC) and anti-money laundering (AML) policies, prohibiting anonymous transactions.

The delisting of LTC has received much attention, especially after warnings from exchanges earlier this year. South Korean cryptocurrency exchanges have also delisted several other privacy coins in the past.