Wemix token plunges 60%, South Korean exchanges plan to delist

South Korean game publisher Wemade’s crypto Wemix suffered a price collapse Friday after five of the country’s leading crypto exchanges announced plans to delist the token for a second time. The delisting news started a selloff that erased more than 60% of the token’s value within minutes.

According to Coingecko data, Wemix fell from $0.7225 to $0.2757 in less than 15 minutes at around 3 PM South Korean time. Although it rebounded to approximately $0.38 at the time of publication, it remains down more than 45% compared to Thursday’s close.

The Digital Asset eXchange Alliance (DAXA), an industry coalition composed of Upbit, Bithumb, Coinone, Korbit, and Gopax, said it delisted Wemix because it was unsure about the token issuer’s reliability and security practices.

“Based on a comprehensive review of the reliability of the issuer and security standards, we have decided to terminate trading support as it does not meet the criteria,” DAXA said in a statement.

The exchanges will officially terminate trading support for Wemix starting June 2, effectively removing it from the domestic market for the second time. The token was previously delisted in 2022 and later reinstated in 2023.

Security failures and delayed disclosure

Wemix has been subject to a series of security incidents and accusations of lacking transparency. On February 28, the token experienced a cyberattack in which hackers exploited a vulnerability in Wemade’s systems and stole over 8.65 million Wemix tokens, worth approximately 9 billion Korean won ($6.38 million at the time). 

The theft came through the Play Bridge cross-chain protocol.

Investors lambasted the Wemix Foundation for waiting four days before disclosing the incident to its users. The team defended the delay, claiming it was necessary to prevent panic selling. During that time, the token’s price plunged 40%, falling to $0.42.

Authorities placed the token on an “investment caution” list earlier this year in response to pressure from investors and exchanges. On Friday, Bithumb said the foundation had failed to convince exchanges about the circumstances that led to the designation.

Within hours on Friday, prices of Wemix coins plummeted from 1,200 won ($0.85) to just 401 won. Wemade’s stock also took a hit, closing the day down 17.45% at 23,650 won ($16.77) on the KOSDAQ, and is now down over 32% year-to-date.

In a statement issued after the delisting, the Wemix team apologized to its community. “We want to clearly state that the foundation and Wemade have a commitment and belief in the growth of the WEMIX ecosystem, regardless of the domestic exchanges’ decision to terminate trading support,” the company said.

To restore confidence, Wemade said it would continue with its previously announced token buyback plan to repurchase 10 billion Korean won ($7.1 million) worth of Wemix tokens.

South Korean parliament acts to improve domestic market demand

In other news, South Korea’s parliament approved a supplementary budget of 13.8 trillion won ($9.7 billion) on Thursday to boost the country’s sluggish domestic demand. The figure exceeded the government’s earlier proposal of 12.2 trillion won and includes allocations for wildfire relief, fruit subsidies, local voucher programs, and infrastructure spending.

The decision follows data released last week showing a contraction in Asia’s fourth-largest economy during the first quarter. Investment in construction fell 3.2%, and both exports and consumption showed no growth. 

Meanwhile, the Bank of Korea could revise its 2024 growth forecast, currently set at 1.5%, during its May policy meeting. The International Monetary Fund has also cut its 2025 projection for South Korea’s growth from 2% to just 1% because of the weakening domestic market demand and global headwinds buoyed by US tariffs.

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