Bit.com, eager to sell, may face compliance issues and be investigated by Korean regulators

Source: Investigating Blockchain

It is reported that the well-known Singaporean Korean Charles Lee’s Web3 business landscape is facing major challenges. It is unknown whether this is his Waterloo in the industry. Charles Lee is urgently seeking to sell his cryptocurrency derivatives exchange Bit.com, and South Korea's tightening financial regulatory policies may complicate its sale.

Bit.com has attracted much attention since its inception. The platform was launched by the Romani Foundation and has attracted attention for its cryptocurrency derivatives trading services. The trading platform has had close exchanges with Korean investors for many times. After many negotiations, it broke the contract and was boycotted by a large Korean consortium. In early 2024, Charles Lee privately expressed his intention to sell Bit.com many times and began negotiations with potential buyers. As Bitcoin rose, market enthusiasm surged. With Token2049 Dubai as the node, after many negotiations, the company’s sale agreement price increased from US$100 million to US$130 million. This offer was opposed by many large investment institutions, including South Korea. The sales plan was terminated.

Although with the support of the Romani Foundation and South Korean conglomerates, Bit.com was called "with a silver spoon" by the industry when it was first born. However, the development of the platform obviously lacks stamina. According to CoinMarketCap, in the fierce derivatives trading platform circuit, he is not among the top ten, and his Twitter only has 307,000 followers. In the face of a trillion-level market, the number of users is slightly embarrassing, and the development potential of the platform is also stretched. The most essential problem is that Bit.com faces key issues such as transaction volume and liquidity. Liquidity and market depth are critical to the smooth operation of cryptocurrency derivatives exchanges. While large exchanges enjoy higher liquidity, emerging platforms often attract liquidity providers through market maker programs and incentives. Despite the support of Charles Lee, Bit.com's liquidity is still not improving. These difficulties cast doubt on the company's financial health and its future operations and growth.

In addition, Charles Lee is eager to sell Bit.com. The deeper reason may be that Charles Lee is facing financial problems. It is understood that Charles Lee previously invested US$54 million in the currency and stock trading company VN.com. However, VN.com is currently experiencing the problem of funds not arriving in time, which means that it was given to Hemingway Lee, the founder of VN.com. Promises cannot be fulfilled on time. This also confirms that Charles Lee's cash flow is being tested.

It is worth noting that the mysterious identity of Charles Lee has also been attracting attention. This Korean-Singaporean has never shown his true identity. The most widely circulated scene is that he was taken away by the police in South Korea. Another news revealed that he once broke into the South Korean Congress at night. As the founder of MissWeb3, Charles Lee continues to add funds to this event. MissWeb3 is committed to building TikTok in the Web3 field. Its goal is to empower female players. The reward of 1,499 BTC attracted many players to sign up, including PHDs from world-renowned universities such as MIT. The event is currently being launched in Singapore, Dubai, and South Korea. Token2049 Dubai Charles Lee led the team to spend a lot of money to show up to build momentum. The event with hot registrations is also facing challenges. Due to the large number of registrations, the system has experienced multiple downtimes. CharlesLee has spent thousands of dollars on the operation, management, and product promotion of MissWeb3, trying to create a Web3 event that will shock the world. The high-profile event promotion, mysterious amount of funds, and mysterious background identity have left too many puzzles to the outside world. The reward of 1,499 BTC and chartered flights and wine tickets for hundreds of MissWeb3 players to participate in Token2049 also caused an uproar in the public opinion. The huge bonus pool and huge operating costs may be the main source of financial pressure for Singaporean-Korean Charles Lee. No wonder he sold Bit.com.

What’s even more fatal is that there are rumors that Bit.com is facing compliance issues and may be subject to strict investigation by South Korean regulatory agencies. As South Korea tightens regulations on Web3, Bit.com is faced with the choice of expelling Korean users. Kim Moonsun, the head of Bit.com Korea, may be invited by regulators to have a talk and drink tea. While details of the potential investigation have not been disclosed, it adds more uncertainty to Bit.com and Charles Lee's Web3 journey.