"Before it was Terra, now it's Bithumb."
Kang Jong-hyeon, the 41-year-old who is the real owner of the cryptocurrency exchange company Bithumb has been issued an arrest warrant by the prosecutor for embezzlement.
Reportedly, the Seoul Southern District Prosecutor's Office of Investigation sentenced Kang and two Bithumb executives for misappropriating funds, breach of trust and committing illegal transactions under the Capital Markets Act.
Bithumb has two subsidiaries namely Inbiogen and Bucket Studio, where Kang Ji-yeon (his younger brother) is the Chief Executive Officer (CE) of both firms.
Explained in more detail, Kang is believed to have artificially inflated the share prices of the two companies by issuing convertible bonds.
Meanwhile, the vice president of Vidente, which holds a 34.2% stake in Bithumb, was found to have committed suicide outside his home after being investigated by the police.
As context, each company's shares are tied to each other; Vidente is the single largest shareholder of Bithumb, Inbiogen is the largest shareholder of Vidente, and Bucket Studio is the largest shareholder of Inbiogen.
Overall impact, Bithumb's trading volume has seen a significant decline in recent times following the various allegations leveled against the company.
