South Korea Mandates 5-Minute Crypto Ledger Audits After Glitch

South Korean financial regulators have mandated that the nation’s five licensed cryptocurrency exchanges implement more rigorous internal controls. Under the new directive, exchanges are required to conduct ledger balance reconciliations against actual asset holdings every five minutes. Furthermore, platforms must establish automated protocols to trigger trading halts if discrepancies are detected.

This regulatory shift follows a significant technical error at Bithumb in February. During the incident, an internal glitch resulted in users being incorrectly credited with 2,000 Bitcoin instead of 2,000 South Korean won. The miscalculation created a ledger mismatch estimated at 62 trillion won, highlighting systemic vulnerabilities in exchange operational processes. By enforcing frequent, automated verification and standardized emergency shut-off procedures, the government aims to prevent similar accounting errors and protect market integrity.