According to recent reports, a significant portion of Bitcoin trading on the South Korean cryptocurrency exchange Bithumb has been concentrated among a small number of accounts. The Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) is currently reviewing the original trading data to determine if any suspicious activities have occurred.
On September 8, industry sources indicated that the price of Bitcoin on Bithumb surged from around 91 million won on August 19 to over 100 million won just two days later. During this rapid price increase, the top 10 accounts accounted for as much as 70% of the total trading volume, a stark rise from the usual 30% range.
Similar trends were observed in other major cryptocurrencies during the same period. The trading share of the top 10 accounts reached 67% for Ethereum and 53% for Ripple. Even Tether, which is pegged to the dollar and typically exhibits lower price volatility, saw its trading share rise to the mid-50% range.
The FSS has flagged this concentration of trading activity as potentially indicative of suspicious trading and is currently verifying the details. The agency has requested a list of top traders and original trading data from Bithumb to investigate whether there are connections among the top accounts or if the trading activity is a result of automated trading exploiting price differences between exchanges.
Bithumb stated, "It is a common phenomenon observed across capital markets, including the stock market, that the trading volume of top users increases during price surges. Specific users' trades cannot influence global prices."
* This article has been translated by AI.
Copyright ⓒ Aju Press All rights reserved.