South Korean court clears way for FLOW delisting from Upbit, Bithumb, and Coinone

South Korea’s biggest cryptocurrency exchanges, Upbit, Bithumb, and Coinone, will go ahead with delisting FLOW from their respective platforms as planned after a Seoul court dismissed the Flow Foundation’s emergency injunction on March 13, 2026.

The dismissal removes the last legal obstacle to a trading halt that had been looming since February. 

FLOW has been on a decline, dropping to around $0.037, a 50% drop from a high of over $0.074 reached on March 10.

The 50th Civil Division of the Seoul Central District Court, presided over by Judge Lee Sang-hoon, ruled that the materials submitted by the Flow Foundation and Dapper Labs were not sufficient to justify suspending the delisting decision ahead of a full hearing on the merits. 

Therefore, trading support on Upbit, Bithumb, and Coinone ends at 3 pm KST on March 16, 2026.

Why did the court refuse to intervene?

According to the court, the Flow Foundation could not establish that a valid transaction support contract existed between the applicants and the exchanges. 

Another reason for the dismissal was that the court declined to second-guess the exchanges’ judgment on whether the trading caution designation had been resolved, stating that, without a thorough evidentiary hearing, it could not conclude that the grounds for caution had lapsed by the time of the delisting decision. 

Third, it found that the necessity of suspending the delisting ahead of a full trial had not been adequately demonstrated.

For the court, FLOW remains tradeable on other domestic and global exchanges; relisting remains possible if the grounds for the caution designation are resolved; and suspending the delisting risked exposing other potential investors to greater losses and risks. 

Taken together, those factors outweighed the Foundation’s case for emergency relief.

This is not the first time that a ruling similar to this incident will side with Digital Asset eXchange Alliance (DAXA)-affiliated exchanges. 

The Seoul Central District Court dismissed a near-identical injunction filed by South Korean game developer Wemade in December 2022, when its WEMIX token was delisted by DAXA-affiliated exchanges over undisclosed circulating supply concerns. 

A second WEMIX challenge was also dismissed in May 2025. In each case, the court upheld the principle that exchanges retain the right to apply and enforce their own listing standards without judicial override ahead of a merits trial.

Why is the Korean market loss so damaging to FLOW’s price and liquidity?

South Korea is one of FLOW’s largest markets, as it reportedly accounts for nearly half of the token’s daily trading volume. The token rose from March 9 and peaked the second day following the filing of the injunction. 

FLOW rose by close to 50% that period, with trading volume experiencing a considerable spike, all thanks to the speculation that the platform will get a favorable outcome.

The March 10 peak of $0.074 has since disappeared. The token touched $0.037 in early trading today before recovering to around $0.04 as of the time of writing, which is still less than a quarter of the $0.17 price it commanded before the December 27 security incident.

The delisting also illustrates the weight of DAXA in Korean crypto markets. Upbit, which is a member, alone accounts for about 70% of domestic crypto trading volume in South Korea. 

However, Flow is not exiting the Korea market yet, as it is still listed on Korbit, another major Korean exchange, which relisted it in February.

What options remain for Flow Foundation?

Relisting is still possible for FLOW, provided that the grounds for the trading caution designation are shown to have been sufficiently resolved.

This means the Flow Foundation can still address the outstanding concerns of the exchanges through normal channels and seek relisting once the exchanges and DAXA are satisfied.

The Foundation said it remains open to constructive conversation with all parties involved. 

It is pursuing several contingency measures in the region, having stated in its previous release that it is not leaving Korea. The foundation is seeking more exchange listings in the Asia-Pacific region and is exploring a partnership with Korbit as an anchor domestic venue.

For now, the major platforms on which the FLOW token remains listed are Coinbase, Kraken, OKX, Binance, Bybit, HTX, Gate, and Korbit, among others.

If you're reading this, you’re already ahead. Stay there with our newsletter.