Upbit, a global cryptocurrency exchange, has temporarily suspended deposit and withdrawal services for the Near Protocol (NEAR) due to an upcoming network upgrade.
According to an official post, the suspension is scheduled to begin on Aug. 26 at 3 am UTC and will continue until the stability of the network upgrade is confirmed.
Once stability is verified, the specific timing of the resumption of these services will be communicated through further updates on the official Upbit post.
Related: South Korean crypto exchange employees out-earn staff at major banks
Downtime details
The temporary suspension will be a precaution to ensure that users’ assets remain secure during the upgrade process.
In the post, Upbit informs users that NEAR trading on the platform will remain unaffected and proceed without interruptions.
The exchange will closely monitor the progress of the upgrade and issue updates to users to keep them informed about the timeline for service resumption and upgrade status.
Related: South Korean crypto exchanges face unexpected supervisory fees
Upbit monitored by the FSS
As of June 16, many crypto exchanges, including Upbit, were registered with South Korea’s Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) and subject to monitoring under the Virtual Asset User Protection Act (VAUPA).
The FSS launched its “continuous monitoring system” for suspicious crypto transactions on crypto exchanges on July 19, when the VAUPA went into effect.
In a July 4 notice, the FSS explained that exchanges subject to the law had established the system, allowing the filtering of “abnormal transactions.”
Related: South Korean government to launch crypto transaction monitoring system
Upbit employees out-earn major bank staff
On Aug. 19, data released by the FSS was reported by News1, a local media outlet, revealing that the average salary of Dunamu employees and executives outperformed that of major bank staff.
The specified Dunamu staff operate the Upbit exchange and have received salaries surpassing the average salary of major bank employees, such as Shinhan Bank and KB Kookmin Bank.
The comparative salary between the two groups saw Upbit operator staff receive almost 18 million South Korean won (roughly $13,000) more in the first half of 2024.
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