PANews reported on April 4 that Lee Sang-jun, former CEO of Bithumb, received about 4.7 billion won (about 3.5 million U.S. dollars) in compensation from the company while serving his sentence for bribery, including a 1.4 million U.S. dollar bonus, a 1.5 million U.S. dollar retirement pension, and a 320,000 U.S. dollar basic salary. A Bithumb spokesperson said that he made significant contributions to the company's professional operations. At the same time, salaries in the Korean crypto industry have soared. The chairman of Upbit's parent company Dunamu received a bonus of 82 million U.S. dollars last year, and the average annual salary of employees reached 147,000 U.S. dollars.