South Korea orders crypto exchanges to verify holdings every 5 minutes

South Korea has ordered all crypto exchanges to reconcile their internal ledgers with actual asset holdings every five minutes after an inspection uncovered weaknesses in internal controls.

The directive was announced on Monday by the Financial Services Commission (FSC) after a meeting with top crypto exchanges and the Digital Asset Exchange Alliance (DAXA), during which they discussed the findings of an emergency inspection triggered by the Bithumb payout incident.

The inspection found that three of the country’s five major exchanges were reconciling balances only once every 24 hours, limiting their ability to respond quickly to discrepancies. Systems designed to halt trading during major mismatches were also found to be insufficient, raising concerns about how exchanges would handle large-scale errors.

In February, Bithumb mistakenly distributed 620,000 Bitcoin (BTC) to 249 users during a promotional event. The exchange later announced that it recovered 99.7% of the funds the same day. The remaining 0.3%, 1,788 BTC that had already been sold, was covered using company reserves.

Related: Bithumb seeks to reappoint CEO despite recent controversies: Report

South Korea mandates five-minute asset checks

Under the new measures, exchanges must implement automated ledger-to-wallet reconciliation systems operating on a five-minute cycle. They will also be required to introduce defined criteria for triggering automatic transaction halts in the event of significant discrepancies.

Beyond reconciliation, regulators are pushing for sweeping changes to internal operations. High-risk processes like promotional payouts will require stronger oversight, including third-party cross-checks and multi-level approval systems. Exchanges will also need to separate high-risk accounts and implement automated verification tools for payments.

Furthermore, external audits will shift from quarterly to monthly, while disclosures will expand to include detailed asset balances by wallet and ledger.

“The financial authorities and the DAXA plan to complete the rule changes needed to implement the improvement measures within April this year,” the FSC wrote.

Related: South Korean brokerage Korea Investment & Securities eyes Coinone stake: Report

Bithumb delays IPO to post-2028

Last week, Bithumb announced it is now targeting an IPO after 2028, marking another delay from its earlier 2025 plans as it works through restructuring and regulatory pressure. The exchange said it will focus on strengthening accounting policies and internal controls through 2027, following an advisory agreement with Samjong KPMG.

Meanwhile, Naver Financial has also delayed its planned share swap with Dunamu by about three months, now targeting a shareholder vote on Aug. 18 and completion by Sept. 30.

Magazine: South Korea gets rich from crypto… North Korea gets weapons