South Korean Cryptocurrency Exchange Bitsonic CEO Gets Another Six Months in Prison

Shin, CEO of the South Korean cryptocurrency exchange Bitsonic, who was sentenced to seven years in prison in 2024, has now received an additional six-month prison term in connection with a cryptocurrency fraud case.

On July 18, the Daegu District Court in South Korea issued a new ruling in a cryptocurrency fraud case involving the exchange Bitsonic. The case centered on CEO Shin's manipulation of the price of Bitsonic Coin (BSC), marking the second confirmed fraud case against him.

Prior to this ruling, however, Shin had already been sentenced to seven years in prison for Bitsonic scam in October 2024, one of the harshest sentences ever handed down against a virtual asset executive in South Korea.

According to the latest court ruling, Shin manipulated the price of BSC through an elaborate scheme to inflate trading volumes on the platform, leading to the embezzlement of large sums of money from misguided investors. Bitsonic was reported to have launched a seemingly legitimate investment product that, in reality, operated as a Ponzi scheme, using funds from new investors to fulfill withdrawal requests from earlier participants.

Additionally, Shin used fake “won points” to buy cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum from customers and used the funds to invest in companies unrelated to Bitsonic.

BrokersView reminds you

Investors are advised to double-check the regulatory status of trading platforms and financial companies before initiating transactions. Avoid dealing with unregulated entities, and beware of scams.