Key Takeaways
A number of experiences say Seoul police raided Bithumb HQ a second time on June 8, 2026, within the Kim Byung-ki corruption probe.Lawmaker Kim Byung-ki faces 13 suspicions and has been summoned by police roughly seven occasions.Bithumb denies hiring irregularities; police say the broader investigation requires additional work.
Second Raid in 4 Months
The Seoul Metropolitan Police Company’s Public Crime Investigation Unit was stated to have arrived at Bithumb’s Gangnam-gu workplaces on Monday morning, marking the second obligatory search of the change since February. The primary raid occurred Feb. 24, 2026, protecting each the Bithumb headquarters and the corporate’s Monetary Tower location.
Bithumb officers have been summoned as witnesses in each February and April. Monday’s motion signifies police haven’t discovered what they want by way of witness testimony alone.
What Investigators Are Trying For
The probe focuses on whether or not Kim Byung-ki used his legislative place to safe favorable employment at Bithumb for his second son. In response to native media reporting, Kim allegedly made employment requests to Bithumb between September and November 2024. The son was reportedly employed in early January 2025 and labored on the change for about six months.
Kim served on the Nationwide Meeting’s Political Affairs Committee, the physique with oversight authority over monetary and digital asset regulation. Investigators are inspecting whether or not inquiries he directed at Dunamu, the operator of rival change Upbit, have been supposed to learn Bithumb and created stress that contributed to the hiring.
Kim faces 13 separate suspicions within the broader investigation, together with nomination bribery. South Korea’s police have summoned him roughly seven occasions over the course of a nine-month inquiry.
Bithumb has maintained publicly that the hiring course of for Kim’s son adopted normal procedures and concerned no irregularities. The South Korean crypto change is a high 20 buying and selling platform worldwide and second to Upbit within the nation. Over the past day, Bithumb logged round $576 million in buying and selling quantity.
Korean Media Protection
MBC, KBS, and JTBC every printed experiences on the June 8 raid inside hours of the morning search warrant execution. MBC’s imnews.imbc.com reported the motion at roughly 1:29 p.m. native time. KBS confirmed the second raid at roughly 3:15 p.m., noting the 13 suspicions and 7 prior summonses of Kim. JTBC printed a separate account protecting the morning timeline and the son’s approximate six months of employment. A number of different regional information shops lined Monday’s probe.
Bithumb’s Historical past With Regulation Enforcement
Monday’s raid is just not Bithumb’s first encounter with investigators. Tax authorities and police searched the change in 2018 over alleged tax evasion. Seoul police returned in 2020 over suspected funding fraud tied to token listings. Prosecutors raided in 2023 over alleged value manipulation of regionally issued tokens, and once more in 2025 over embezzlement allegations involving a former govt.
A separate incident in February 2026 drew regulatory scrutiny when a system error throughout a promotion by accident credited person accounts with roughly 620,000 BTC, inflicting a short market disruption on the platform. That occasion triggered a Monetary Supervisory Service investigation and Monetary Intelligence Unit actions, together with a partial suspension discover and disciplinary measures towards the CEO. That state of affairs was not a police raid and is distinct from the present legal investigation.
What Comes Subsequent
Police have acknowledged that a number of features of the broader Kim Byung-ki investigation require further work earlier than conclusions could be drawn. No formal expenses have been introduced. If any supplies have been seized on Monday, it may speed up the timeline.
