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South Korea’s brokerage industry is making its play for crypto. Kiwoom Securities, one of the country’s most prominent securities firms, is pursuing a stake in Bithumb, the nation’s second-largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume.
A crowded race for crypto exchange stakes
Korea Investment & Securities and Hanwha Investment & Securities have both engaged in acquisition discussions worth hundreds of millions of dollars. Their targets include exchanges like Coinone and Dunamu, the company that operates Upbit, South Korea’s largest crypto exchange.
Kiwoom has also been building its digital asset credentials through the Korea Digital Exchange consortium, known as KDX. That group includes the Korea Exchange (KRX), Kyobo Life, and KakaoPay Securities, all working together to develop a regulated platform for stable digital asset trading.
Bithumb’s complicated baggage
In February 2026, Bithumb suffered an internal system error that resulted in approximately 620,000 phantom Bitcoin being distributed to users. A glitch effectively conjured hundreds of thousands of fake BTC into user accounts, triggering a flash crash that temporarily drove prices down to around $55,000.
Among the consequences: Bithumb’s planned Initial Public Offering has been pushed back to after 2028, a significant delay that reflects just how much damage the episode did to the exchange’s credibility with regulators.
Bithumb hasn’t been sitting still despite the setbacks. In March 2026, the exchange signed a memorandum of understanding with SSI Digital to explore opportunities for a local digital exchange in Vietnam.
Disclosure: This article was edited by Editorial Team. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.
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