Upbit refuses to charges of high and expensive listing fees

Upbit, one of South Korea’s largest crypto exchanges, has denied accusations of brokerage fee claims to list tokens on the platform, calling for the accuser to provide concrete evidence of such an outbreak.

The allegations were made by WU Blockchain, a crypto news platform. Shared a scoop on X (formerly Twitter) and claimed that several projects paid a huge brokerage fee to list tokens in two of Korea’s major crypto exchanges, Upbit and Bithumb.

According to WU Blockchain, the fees were around $2 million and $10 million respectively, and were organized by Intermediaries related to Upbit shareholders and market makers.

Some projects informed the WU blockchain that it provided brokerage fees ranging from 3% to 5% of the total token amount before being successfully listed on Upbit.

The news platform also reported that this does not apply to all seven projects they reached out to. They reported that the three projects did not pay a brokerage fee before being listed.

Scoop: Some projects have told Wublockchain that they have paid a large brokerage fee to list tokens on Upbit and Bitham, Korea’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges. The fees were approximately US$10 million and US$2 million, respectively. The intermediary is…pic.twitter.com/podtoouayd

– WU Blockchain (@wublockchain) March 20, 2025

Upbit responses and messages to users

In response to these claims, Upbit denied the press release allegations addressed to users, saying, “Upbit does not support external agencies engagement or intermediate trading support for assistance or interim trading support, and all procedures will be made directly by Upbit employees.”

The exchange also evaluated the project through a rigorous internal review process based on trading support procedures and said it would not proceed with trading support under financial compensation conditions.

The exchange urged users and projects to avoid companies and individuals approaching them due to brokerage fees, claiming that they are illegal brokers and have no connection to Upbit.

The exchange also requested that WU Blockchain share a list of digital assets listed on the platform, a list of digital assets that paid such intermediary fees, and a material that supports when specific evidence and support materials are set up an investigation into the issue.

Upbit also asked users to report cases of intermediate interference in their press statements. Upon request, Wu Blockchain stated that it cannot disclose that information as it needs to be protected.

Upbit’s battle with Regulators

Upbit has recently become accustomed to the South Korean Financial Information Unit (FIU). This has denounced thousands of platforms for KYC violations. Regulators also found that Upbit promotes transactions with unregistered foreign service providers, violating certain South Korea’s financial information laws.

All of these violations led to regulators sanctioning the platform on February 25, 2025, banning the platform’s ability to be installed on new users. New users on the platform are not permitted to deposit or execute withdrawals from March 7th to June 6th. Dunamu, the parent company of Dunamu, has sued the move and is working to reverse the decision.

In a move that means the company may be actively working to be on the right side of the law, the platform today announced that it will reveal six companies suspected of being involved in the Ponzi scam via the platform and limit the withdrawal of assets in accordance with the enforcement order of the South Korea Virtual Asset User Protection Act.

In its last post on X, WU blockchain urged South Korean regulators to look into the issue, particularly with regard to market markers. Upbit’s current progress is a major setback for the platform if these brokerage fees and market marker claims turn out to be true. This will bring more scrutiny on the platform that may see itself paying millions of dollars fines for previous violations.