South Korea Examines AVAIL Transaction Trends on the Bithumb Exchange

• The Financial Supervisory Service of South Korea is currently scrutinizing the trade activities of AVAIL on the exchange Bithumb, due to suspicions that an investor might be manipulating the market.
• Parliament member Min Byeong-deok demands clarity on Bithumb’s surveillance of AVAIL’s trade patterns, which have been flagged as irregular.

South Korean lawmakers have recently turned their attention to the cryptocurrency Avail (AVAIL) and its peculiar trading performance on the exchange Bithumb, sparking a contentious debate. The investigative process began following an unexpected price spike of AVAIL on July 23, 2024, followed by a sharp decline the next day.

Implemented shortly before this event, the new Virtual Asset User Protection Act triggered the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) to investigate. The act demands diligent transaction oversight and aims to prevent unfair trade practices, including the manipulation of asset prices.

Unidentified Investor Linked to Severe Market Fluctuations of AVAIL Fueling Suspicions of Market Tampering

The FSS’s probe zeroes in on an anonymous investor implicated as the chief cause behind the abrupt market changes. It’s suggested the investor purchased large amounts of AVAIL tokens from third-party sources and traded them on Bithumb, causing the value to leap from around $0.17 to $2.56 in just 15 minutes.

After the sharp incline, there was a swift descent back down to approximately $0.21 the day after. Notably, the change in AVAIL’s price occurred on Bithumb, while it remained stable on other platforms, sparking suspicions of potential price manipulation.

The FSS is also investigating whether the investor might have turned to social media to gather funds for the AVAIL purchases, which could have led to significant returns. If this tactic is confirmed, it may have skewed Bithumb’s trading landscape in the investor’s favor, detrimentally affecting other traders.

The regulator’s findings could markedly influence future regulatory responses towards similar situations under the newly enacted legislation, accentuating the urgency of safeguarding investors from market anomalies.

Lawmaker Min Byeong-deok, who has been vocal about these issues, refers to AVAIL as a “burger coin,” insinuating that it’s a token launched abroad but listed locally. He’s actively seeking answers from financial authorities and questions the effectiveness of exchange platforms like Bithumb in monitoring suspicious trading behaviors.

Min has consistently voiced his concerns about the oversight of other tokens, pointing to a perceived negligence from exchanges and regulators in protecting investor interests.

In related news, CNF previously reported that Korean civil law will regard cryptocurrency assets as joint marital property during divorce settlements, according to legal firm IPG Legal.

The firm has also referenced a 2018 decision by the Supreme Court that acknowledges the tangible economic value of digital assets, thus making cryptocurrencies acquired during marriage subject to division within the marital estate.