Court decision on Wemix delisting will come Dec. 7

Investors in Wemix and Wemade hold a protest outside Upbit’s headquarters in Gangnam, southern Seoul on Friday afternoon. [YONHAP]

A decision will be announced next Wednesday on whether crypto exchanges will have to revoke their decision to delist the Wemix cryptocurrency.

“We will make a decision before the evening of Dec. 7,” the Seoul Central District court said in a hearing Friday. Local crypto exchanges have announced they will stop trading of Wemix tokens on Dec. 8.

Wemade, the game publisher that issues Wemix tokens, is challenging last week's decision by the Digital Asset eXchange Alliance (DAXA), a trade group representing Korea’s five crypto exchanges, to delist Wemix.

The exchanges — Upbit, Bithumb, Coinone, Korbit and Gopax — said they will stop the trading of Wemix coins Dec. 8. Owners will be able to withdraw their money for a month after trading ends.

Investors in Wemix and Wemade held a protest outside Upbit’s headquarters in Gangnam, southern Seoul on Friday afternoon. Wemade has been blaming Upbit for driving the delisting decision.

“We can take the criticism we get from society for having jumped in to an immature coin trading market,” said a representative for the Coalition of Wemix Incident Victims, in a press release.

“But what we cannot take is the unfair acts of DAXA that destroy people’s private property by using a blind spot in the law in an unprotected market, threatening not only people’s families but their lives.”

The group argues that Wemade was one of the most transparent companies when it came to filing reports and answering questions from investors, as compared to other crypto companies “that made arbitrary reports through Twitter posts.”

“We cannot comprehend how an organization such as DAXA, which has only been founded for six months, can make such a crucial decision that affects so many lives,” the coalition said.

“We demand DAXA admit that it has been arbitrary and erroneous before the court makes a decision and cancel the delisting process. In addition, we demand that DAXA establish and disclose a systematic structure regarding its organization and guidelines.”

The price of Wemix tokens and Wemade shares recovered on Friday with the news of an upcoming court decision. Wemix traded at 1,000 won ($0.77), up 35 percent from the previous day, and Wemade shares closed at 39,550 won, 4 percent higher than Thursday.

BY YOON SO-YEON [yoon.soyeon@joongang.co.kr]