Seoul police returned to Bithumb’s headquarters on Monday, carrying out a second search tied to a corruption probe centered on independent lawmaker Kim Byung-ki and claims that his son’s hiring at the exchange may have come through political pressure. The move came months after the first raid and pushed the case further into public view.
Police Return To Bithumb
Investigators from the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency’s public crime team were reported to have arrived at the company’s Gangnam office in the morning, while separate officers also looked into another Bithumb site during the earlier February search. That first sweep took place on Feb. 24, and witnesses from the exchange were later called in again in April.
The new search signals that police are still trying to piece together the same set of questions. They want to know whether Bithumb’s records, hiring files and internal messages match the exchange’s public account of the case.
Hiring Claims At The Center
The main thread running through the investigation is the claim that Kim used his position to help his second son land a job at Bithumb. Reports indicate that Kim made hiring requests between September and November 2024, that the son was hired in early January 2025, and that he stayed at the exchange for about six months.
Kim’s committee role gave him oversight of financial and virtual asset policy, which is why investigators are also examining whether his questions to Dunamu, the operator of Upbit, may have been part of a broader effort that created pressure around Bithumb. The probe now covers 13 separate suspicions, including alleged nomination bribery.
Questions Still UnansweredKim has been summoned about seven times over a nine-month span, according to the report, but police have not said the inquiry is finished. Bithumb, for its part, says the hiring followed normal procedures and that no irregularities were found in the process.
Local broadcasters moved quickly on the raid, with MBC, KBS and JTBC all carrying accounts of the search within hours. The exchange remains one of South Korea’s biggest trading venues and sits just behind Upbit in the domestic market, with about $576 million in daily volume reported in the story.
Bithumb Under Familiar ScrutinyThe latest raid also fits into a longer record of run-ins with authorities. The exchange has faced tax checks, fraud-related searches, token-manipulation probes and embezzlement-related raids in past years, making it a frequent target whenever South Korean regulators or police widen their focus.
Police disclosed that the wider case is still incomplete and requires further review before any findings are finalized, with no charges filed so far. Investigators added that any new materials gathered from Monday’s search could help accelerate the next phase of the inquiry.
Featured image from EPA Images, chart from TradingView
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