South Korea-based digital asset company Delio has
temporarily suspended withdrawals over what it termed as a ‘sharp
increase in market volatility and confusion among investors’. This was
after Haru Invest, another digital asset company, suspended deposits and
withdrawals.
“In this situation,
to safely protect the assets of customers currently in custody, Delio will
inevitably suspend withdrawals as of June 14, 2023, 18:30, until the above
situation and its aftermath are resolved,” the statement, originally
written in Korean and translated using Google Translate, said.
Haru Invest announced on
Tuesday that it was suspending withdrawals from its platform because one of its consignment operators had provided a management report
containing false information. Haru Invest offers a double-digit yield on
digital assets, including Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH).
Delio has, however,
assured its customers that it would protect their assets as it tries to address
the situation. Furthermore, the company said it would inform its users on any further steps. Delio was founded in 2018 and currently holds about $1 billion
in Bitcoin, $200 million in ether, and approximately $8 billion worth of altcoins,
according to the data on its website.
Although the disruptions
in the two companies are at a smaller scale, it reflects a wider market turmoil in the South Korean digital asset space. The turmoil escalated
in 2022 when a South Korean court issued
an arrest warrant against
Terraforms Labs’ Do Kwon after the cryptocurrencies he created collapsed and caused millions of losses to investors.
Push for Crypto Regulations
The volatility in the
digital asset space has pushed South Korean regulators to actively engage in
regulating the sector to protect investors against fraudulent schemes. In the
latest development, the country’s Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) took
action against some of
the crypto exchanges in the country, including Bithumb, for allegedly breaking the law.
Moreover, South Korean legislators are working on a bill for the regulation
of digital assets, which was proposed by the end of 2022. The bill is part of a proposed Virtual Asset Act expected to shape the regulation of digital assets in South Korea.
South Korea-based digital asset company Delio…
