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WeMade Files Antitrust Complaint Against South Korea’s Major Crypto Exchanges

By  |  May 26, 2025
This Week in Crypto, Web3, investments

South Korean game developer WeMade has taken legal action against the country’s five major cryptocurrency exchanges, accusing them of anti-competitive behavior in connection with the delisting of its native digital token, WEMIX.

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    According to a statement reported by MLex, WeMade has lodged a formal complaint with the Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC), targeting the Digital Asset Exchange Alliance (DAXA) — a consortium consisting of Upbit, Bithumb, Coinone, Korbit, and Gopax. The company alleges that these exchanges coordinated efforts to remove the WEMIX token from their platforms, an action WeMade claims violates South Korea’s fair trade laws, specifically Article 40 of the Monopoly Regulation and Fair Trade Act.

    Per the statement, WeMade contends that the simultaneous announcement of the delisting by all five exchanges and the absence of clear procedural justification point to a collective strategy that lacked transparency. The game developer argues that such conduct unfairly disrupts its blockchain-based gaming operations, which rely heavily on the WEMIX token as part of their ecosystem.

    The delisting, scheduled to take effect on June 2, will end token trading on the five platforms, with withdrawals permitted until July 2. This marks the second time WEMIX has been delisted in South Korea, adding to growing concerns over the token’s future viability in the domestic market.

    Related: SEC Chairman Floats Temporary Regulatory Relief For Crypto Exchanges

    DAXA, however, maintains that each member arrived at the decision independently, based on individual risk assessments and operational standards. The group has pointed to a security breach in late February — involving the theft of 8.6 million WEMIX tokens, worth approximately $6.6 million at the time — as the primary catalyst for their decision to remove the asset.

    The incident is a significant blow to WeMade, whose expansion into Web3 gaming hinges on the adoption and circulation of WEMIX. The token has suffered a dramatic downturn in value, having declined more than 70% in the past year. From its all-time high of $24.70 in November 2021 — when its market capitalization hit $2.4 billion — WEMIX is now trading at just $0.37, marking a staggering 98.5% drop.

    Source: Coinspeaker