South Korean lawmaker's assistant is suspected of pressuring financial regulators to interfere with Upbit's competition with Bithumb stablecoin fees

Comparatively, according to BLOCKMEDIA, the South Korean police are investigating an incident of political interference in competition in the crypto market. A former assistant to Independent Member Kim Byeong-gi is accused of pressuring the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) in February last year to force Upbit to stop $USDC and $USDT fee relief activities to ease the financial pressure on competitor Bithumb due to the launch of a zero-fee promotion.

What is questionable about the incident is that the assistant was offered a Bithumb unofficial consultant position a few months after the intervention occurred. At the same time, the councilor's son was also hired as an intern by the exchange. Bithumb denies being aware of any political interference, insisting that the fee adjustment was an independent commercial decision.