Upbit Operator Faces Scrutiny Over Affiliate’s 2020 USD 103M LUNA Sale

cryptonews.com:

South Korean crypto exchanges are now in the firing line as the terra (LUNA) crash fallout continues to sow the seeds of chaos in the domestic crypto industry.

Dunamu, the operator of the Upbit exchange, has denied reports that it dumped large sums of LUNA to avoid forthcoming price drops as “groundless” – but questions are being asked about how and why a then-new Dunamu affiliate made a large investment in the coin, only to sell its entire stash in February 2021.

The Digital Times reported that Dunamu established a firm named Dunamu & Partners in March 2018, and purchased 20 million LUNA tokens “for investment purposes” on April 20, 2018 – paying some USD 0.12 per coin. At the time of Dunamu & Partners’ launch, Song Chi-hyung (Dunamu’s founder and chairman) and Kim Hyeong-nyeon (Dunamu’s Vice President) were registered as executive directors, the media outlet added – producing documentary proof of company records to back its claims. The duo appears to have stepped down shortly before the LUNA purchase.

On February 19 last year, records show that Dunamu & Partners sold its entire LUNA holdings – making some USD 103 million profit.

Dunamu stated:

“Chairman Song and Vice President Kim briefly served as directors immediately after the establishment of Dunamu & Partners, and were not involved in the LUNA investment. Dunamu & Partners disposed of its LUNA holdings about a year and three months ago, and the assertion that Dunamu & Partners sold all of LUNA coins to avoid the [recent] price drop is groundless.”

Regardless, despite Dunamu’s claims that Upbit and Dunamu & Partners are totally different entities, the media outlet reported that “insider trading” questions remained.

Upbit added support for LUNA via the bitcoin (BTC) market