Kiwoom Securities is in talks to buy into Bithumb, signaling fresh institutional interest in South Korea’s crypto market.
According to ChosunBiz, Kiwoom and Bithumb are negotiating a third‑party share allocation under which Bithumb would issue new shares for Kiwoom to purchase. The two sides have not settled on the size of the investment or the exact stake to be acquired, and no final terms have been agreed.
If completed, the deal would add another major financial player to a wave of recent institutional investments in the country’s digital‑asset sector. Last month Hana Bank — one of South Korea’s four largest banks — revealed plans to acquire a $670 million stake in Dunamu, operator of the Upbit exchange. Reports later said three Samsung affiliates would together buy about $407.7 million of Dunamu shares, giving them a combined roughly 4% holding. International players have also been active: OKX Ventures announced in May it would buy a 19.6% stake in Coinone, and Binance has finalized its acquisition of Gopax after years of regulatory delay.
The talks come amid regulatory scrutiny of Bithumb. South Korea’s Personal Information Protection Commission fined the exchange 210 million won (roughly $136,000) for improperly transferring personal data overseas and ordered Bithumb to tighten its cross‑border data transfer procedures under the Personal Information Protection Act. This followed a much larger enforcement action for anti‑money‑laundering shortcomings: regulators previously imposed a 36.8 billion won penalty after finding deficiencies in customer due diligence, transaction monitoring, and transfers involving unregistered overseas virtual‑asset service providers.
Regulators are also updating rules for the industry. The Personal Information Protection Commission has published new blockchain privacy guidelines that require firms to incorporate personal data protections into the design of blockchain services. Meanwhile, lawmakers are advancing the Digital Asset Basic Act, a proposed framework that would generally cap any single shareholder’s stake in a crypto exchange at 20%, with exceptions allowing up to 34% under certain conditions still being negotiated.
Despite the scrutiny, Bithumb continues to move toward a public listing. The exchange signed an IPO advisory agreement with Samjong KPMG through the end of 2027, and CFO Jeong Sang‑gyun said in April the company expects to target a 2028 listing.
Taken together, the potential Kiwoom investment, other institutional buys, and ongoing regulatory developments highlight how South Korea’s crypto market is maturing — attracting deep-pocketed investors even as firms navigate tighter compliance and governance expectations.
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