Topbit Tuesday announced that its CEO Kim Kyung-woo was presumed dead in an apparent suicide. It said the CEO sent a suicide note through a messenger service. All of its employees would work at home, and investors could not meet the employees even if they visit the office.
The bizarre notice unnerved investors. They question how a chief financial officer could post the information. The CEO’s death could not be officially confirmed one day after the announcement.
They are worried that the CEO’s death could block them in withdrawing their investment money. They recall a Canadian crypto exchange CEO’s death. Following the death, investors could not retrieve 160 billion won in cryptocurrencies held in the Canadian company.
The news came out days after the court ordered the confiscation of the Allstarbit CEO’s assets for alleged frauds, arbitrary freezing of investor funds, swapping of coins and false trading records.
Another disturbing news was the bankruptcy filing of Coinbin following the alleged hacking and loss of private keys in Cold Wallet. You need private keys to use your cryptocurrencies. The loss of private keys prevents you from using crypto coins.
Coinbin announced last week that it would file for bankruptcy as its officers lost private keys, leaving the company unable to claim 2.2 billion won in cryptocurrencies.
The bankruptcy would leave investors billions of won in a loss.