South Korean Gaming Giant WeMade Loses Legal Struggle Against WEMIX Delisting

The South Korean gaming firm WeMade has lost its legal battle against the nation’s biggest crypto exchanges – who have decided to delist its WEMIX coin (WEMIX).

WEMIX was issued with an “investment warning” in October by the Digital Asset Exchange Association (DAXA). The DAXA is a group that comprises the nation’s four largest exchanges, namely Upbit, Bithumb, Coinone, and Korbit.

WeMade previously lodged a legal complaint with a branch of the Seoul Civil Court – but this was dismissed on December 8, Yonhap reported.

This means the exchanges are now clear to delist the coin – and will begin doing so at the end of this month, with the process on schedule for completion in early January.

The ruling saw the value of WEMIX drop by almost 50% on Upbit in the morning (KST) of December 8. CoinGecko figures have the coin down almost 75% in the past 24 hours at the time of writing. Some $189 million worth of WEMIX has been transacted on Upbit in the past 24 hours, also per CoinGecko data.

DAXA was formed in the wake of the collapse of the Terra ecosystem coins in May – after politicians criticized exchanges for failing to make uniform Terra Luna Classic (LUNC) delisting decisions.

WeMade had harbored high hopes for its coin, which underpins many of its blockchain gaming operations. But exchanges have expressed concerns about the number of tokens in supply.

In January, WeMade said 245,966,797 tokens would be in circulation by the end of October this year. However, on October 25, there were 318,421,502 WEMIX tokens in circulation – meaning 72,454,705 additional coins appear to have been added to the supply.

WeMade has apologized for what it claims were mainly clerical errors. But DAXA appears to have been dissatisfied with this explanation and eventually took the decision to delist the token.

Yonhap also noted that while WEMIX is also listed on overseas exchanges like Gate.io, 90% of WEMIX trading is conducted through DEXA exchanges.

Angry Investors Protest WEMIX Delisting on Seoul Streets

The delisting move has led to the outbreak of angry street protests. A group calling themselves the Wemix Crisis Victims Council and comprising WEMIX investors held a rally in front of Upbit’s headquarters in Seoul’s Gangnam district earlier this month.

A spokesperson for the group was quoted as stating:

“WEMIX investors who suffered enormous losses due to the hasty decision to delist are suffering a pain that’s worse than death.”

Complaints urging DAXA to “withdraw” its delisting move have also drawn the attention of regulators.

The media outlet quoted Lee Bok-hyun, the head of the Financial Supervisory Service, as saying:

“It will be necessary to look into whether DAXA has taken its decsion in line with fair internal and external standards in order to judge whether these standards are correct or not.”