Allegations of Job Solicitation

South Korean police have detained the CEO of cryptocurrency exchange Bithumb as a suspect in an ongoing bribery investigation involving allegations of preferential hiring for the son and an aide of an independent lawmaker, officials said. The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency’s Public Crime Investigation Unit is reportedly investigating Bithumb CEO Lee Jae-won on charges including bribery.

Lee is accused of moving forward with the hiring of independent Rep. Kim Byung-ki’s second son after receiving an employment request from the lawmaker. The investigation gained momentum after police obtained a statement from a former aide to Kim, who alleged that the lawmaker and the Bithumb CEO met at a restaurant in Mapo, Seoul, in November 2024, where the job solicitation allegedly took place. The son later worked at Bithumb for approximately six months starting in January 2025.

Investigators suspect that Kim, who served on the National Assembly’s Political Affairs Committee, may have tailored his legislative activities to benefit Bithumb in exchange for his son’s employment. Authorities are looking into whether Kim intentionally targeted Bithumb’s primary competitor, Dunamu, by focusing legislative pressure on that company’s market monopoly issues.

Additionally, police are investigating separate allegations that Kim pressured Bithumb to hire another one of his congressional aides, identified only as “A,” who has reportedly been employed at the cryptocurrency exchange since September of last year. Police are checking whether this aide’s later advisory role at Bithumb was connected to the broader alleged quid pro quo.

The scope of the investigation expanded on June 8 when police executed a second search-and-seizure warrant at Bithumb’s headquarters in the Gangnam district of Seoul, formally designating CEO Lee—previously treated as a witness—as a suspect on allegations of offering bribes.

During an initial raid on Bithumb’s offices in February, police had listed Representative Kim as the primary suspect. Kim faces a broader corruption probe involving 13 separate allegations, including claims of accepting cash payments from local council members and the misuse of a corporate card by his spouse. He has been summoned by authorities multiple times as part of the months-long investigation.

Bithumb has denied any wrongdoing, stating that its hiring process was proper and compliant with regulations. The company also maintained that the former aide’s advisory role was informal and entirely unrelated to the employment of Kim’s son.

Following an analysis of the materials seized during the latest raid, police are expected to summon the aide and other involved parties for questioning regarding the circumstances of their employment and whether they were aware of the job solicitation.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

On May 21, 2026, Mohave County Sheriff’s Office Deputies took a report of fraud. The victim, who resided in the Kingman area, had befriended an individual on social media approximately six months prior. During their conversations, the individual discussed investing the victim’s money into cryptocurrencies. The victim stated that he had provided cash on three different occasions, totaling $113,000.00.

The victim was supplied with a fake phone application that displayed an investment and the interest the money was supposedly earning. Following this, the victim would withdraw cash, photograph it, and send the photograph to the individual. In response, a photograph of a one-dollar bill was sent to the victim and later used to identify the “courier” responsible for picking up the cash. The arrangement entailed a meeting at a local business in the 3700 block of N. Stockton Hill Rd., where the “courier” would confirm the transaction by showing the one-dollar bill before receiving the cash.

Once the victim realized that he had been defrauded, he contacted the Mohave County Sheriff’s Office. Despite this, the individual continued communication and requested an additional sum—initially $100,000.00 in cash, later revised to $65,000.00. Detectives assumed the victim’s identity and coordinated the transaction. When the individual requested a photograph of the initially mentioned $100,000.00 cash, detectives, with the assistance of a local bank, provided the photograph. After the amount was changed, another photograph was sent and a transfer of the money to the “courier” was arranged. The individual then sent a photograph of a one-dollar bill, which was to be provided to the victim as confirmation of the transaction.

On Friday, June 12, Mohave County Sheriff’s Office Detectives, with assistance from the Kingman Police Department Street Crimes Unit, executed an operation on the 3700 block of N. Stockton Hill Rd. At approximately 12:12 p.m., the “courier” arrived at the location and was taken into custody without incident. The individual was identified as Jay Jin Xia, 40, of Hacienda Heights, California, an American citizen. Authorities recovered evidence on his person, including the phone used to communicate and the one-dollar bill linking him to the investigation. Xia was transported to the Mohave County Adult Detention Facility where he was booked for fraud. Additional charges are pending further investigation into this incident.

The investigation is ongoing.

A Bear That Keeps Winning

Onchain analytics firm Nansen said a Hyperliquid trader (referred to by the firm as a “Perps Perma-Bear“) is 81% short with a $2.7 million all-time profit and loss (PnL) on the decentralized perpetual-futures exchange. The wallet’s largest position is a $13.57 million short on HYPE, Hyperliquid’s native token, showing a $539,000 gain. Shorts on ether ( ETH) and bitcoin ( BTC) are also in the green, up about $226,000 and $138,000 respectively.

The trader is not uniformly bearish, however. “Despite being a Perma-Bear, they’re not short on everything,” Nansen noted, adding that the wallet holds select long positions even as its short book dominates.

The bet is paying off because HYPE has retreated from its highs after hitting an all-time high of $75.51 on June 2. It is now trading closer to $58, roughly 25% below that peak. The decline has rewarded shorts after a euphoric spring run-up.

Moreover, Bitcoin.com News reported last month that HYPE had been hitting a string of price highs seemingly every other week as the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) cracked open the U.S. perpetuals market, clearing the first domestically regulated perpetual futures contract. The breakthrough drew institutional attention to Hyperliquid, the dominant onchain venue for perpetual futures (i.e. derivatives that let traders bet on price with leverage and no expiry date).

Whales on Both Sides

The perma-bear is far from the only large player operating in this space, as wallets linked to venture firm a16z have also accumulated more than $90 million in HYPE, becoming one of the token’s biggest holders. Other traders have leaned bearish, with one whale dumping roughly $36 million in HYPE to shore up a $103 million short as liquidation risk built.

The leverage cut both ways as another account banked $7.5 million in four days on ZEC and HYPE longs before rotating into a leveraged ether position. The crowd of large, visible positions partly reflects new tooling with Nansen recently integrating Hyperliquid perpetuals into its dashboard, turning its analytics layer into a trading terminal where users can mirror a tracked whale’s trade in the same window.

That said, for the perma-bear, the risk is one of symmetry and with open interest elevated and institutional money circling, HYPE’s next move will decide whether the market’s most stubborn bear extends its streak (or becomes the liquidity that fuels the next squeeze).