Lee Bok-hyun, director of the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) of South Korea, said on the issue of deposit fee competition among virtual asset exchanges after the implementation of the Virtual Asset User Protection Act: "We are understanding the current situation of the industry and discussing in particular how to resolve related issues such as Bithumb, which is under investigation, in a market-autonomous manner."
The competition in deposit rates began on July 19, when Upbit announced a 1.3% interest rate. Bithumb then launched a 2.0% interest rate, which prompted Upbit to increase its interest rate to 2.1%. Bithumb further raised its interest rate to 2.2%. As Korbit joined the competition with a 2.5% interest rate, Bithumb once again raised its interest rate to 4.0%. However, after the FSS intervened, Bithumb withdrew the 4.0% interest rate. Rep. Kim said, "Currently, the financial authorities are a bit vague about the calculation standards for the usage fee rate. They just tell people to calculate it reasonably. There is no standard for calculating utilization, payment cycle, etc., and there is not even a minimum guideline." (Newsis)