Bithumb’s board is trying to keep CEO Lee Jae-won in place for another two-year term, even as the exchange faces one of the most difficult periods in its recent history. The reappointment push has turned into a direct test of whether shareholders believe continuity is more valuable than a leadership reset.
The vote is scheduled for March 31, 2026, and it arrives at a moment when Bithumb is dealing with regulatory penalties, operational failures and ongoing investigations that could weigh on its license renewal and future growth. What the board describes as a stability decision is being viewed by critics as a broader referendum on accountability and internal controls.
Regulatory pressure is now at the center of the decision
Bithumb is already under heavy regulatory strain after South Korea’s Financial Intelligence Unit imposed a 36.8 billion won fine, or about $24.7 million, and issued a personal reprimand to Lee. The sanction followed roughly 6.65 million AML and KYC violations, making the scale of the compliance breakdown difficult to dismiss as a routine supervisory matter.
The FIU also ordered a six-month partial business suspension running from March 27 to September 26, 2026. During that period, new users will be blocked from making external virtual-asset transfers, a restriction that directly threatens onboarding momentum and could weaken platform liquidity.
Pressure on management intensified further after an operational breakdown in February 2026. A fat-finger error that credited users with 2,000 BTC instead of 2,000 KRW exposed weaknesses in transaction validation and reconciliation, even though Bithumb says it recovered most of the mistakenly distributed funds.
The exchange is also dealing with an active investigation into alleged order-book data sharing with Stellar Exchange, an unregistered overseas platform. That probe carries its own risk because an adverse finding could complicate or even derail Bithumb’s effort to renew its VASP license in South Korea.
The board is arguing for continuity over disruption
Bithumb’s board has defended Lee by leaning on a regulatory distinction between crypto exchanges and traditional banks. Its position is that, because Bithumb is regulated as a Virtual Asset Service Provider rather than a bank, a reprimand does not automatically require the chief executive to step down.
That argument is built around operational continuity at a moment when the company is trying to manage remediation and navigate multiple regulatory processes at once. Supporters of Lee’s reappointment believe changing leadership now could add another layer of instability while the exchange is already under pressure from enforcement and service restrictions.
Opponents see the issue differently and argue that keeping the same leadership weakens the message of accountability. The contrast with industry peers that accepted executive resignations after regulatory sanctions has made Bithumb’s defense of Lee look less like prudence and more like resistance to consequences.
The March 31 shareholder vote will now serve as the immediate turning point. If Lee is reappointed, Bithumb will try to present that outcome as a mandate for continuity during remediation, but if shareholders reject him, the exchange will enter an already fragile period with a leadership transition layered on top of regulatory uncertainty.