Bithumb（빗썸）— Korea KRW spot CEX overview
#exchanges#cex#korea#krw-spot#isms-casp
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This entry sits under exchanges index. Read it against Korea's 5 major CEX regimes compared — Upbit / Bithumb / Coinone / Korbit / GOPAX for the Korea peer / regulatory context, Upbit for the closest peer comparison, and global CEX top 10 comparison for the broader system / market boundary.
Established 2014-01 · Korea spot market #2 (share approx. 25%) · NH 농협은행 real-name account · ISMS-P certified · KOSDAQ IPO plan in progress (2026)
1. Entity and shareholders
- Trade name: 주식회사 빗썸코리아 (Bithumb Korea Co., Ltd.)
- Established: 2014-01
- Head office location: 서울특별시 강남구
- Parent structure: a 2 -tier structure of Bithumb Holdings (holding company) → Bithumb Korea (operating company)
- Shareholder composition: indirectly held by multiple Korean financial / IT investors (a history of multiple changes of control in the past; see IR disclosure for details)
- 2018–2019 年 period: control structure via BTC Korea Holdings
- After 2020 年: reporting of involvement by the Vidente group (Vidente Co., Ltd.)
- 2024–2026 年 period: the controlling shareholder remains complex, with restructuring in progress for IPO preparation
2. Registration / license status (Korean regime)
- 가상자산사업자 (VASP) registration: registered with the 금융정보분석원 (FIU) (the same-day class as the first day of Korea’s VASP registration regime in 2021-09-24)
- ISMS / ISMS-P certification: holds KISA certification (including the enhanced ISMS-P)
- 실명확인 입출금 계정 (real-name account): contract with NH 농협은행 (ongoing since 2018 年)
- One of the 1 社 of 5 社 able to offer a KRW spot market by meeting Korea’s 2 VASP-registration requirements (ISMS + real-name account)
- For the detailed regime, see Korea's 5 major CEX regimes compared — Upbit / Bithumb / Coinone / Korbit / GOPAX
3. Currencies handled
- KRW spot market + USDT market (limited)
- Number of listed tokens: approx. 200+ (in the 2024–2026 period; in addition to major tokens such as ETH / BTC / XRP / SOL / ADA, there are proprietary listings of Klaytn-family / Korean-IP project tokens)
- The trading-volume share of BTC / ETH / XRP is overwhelming (the structure of the Korean market overall)
- Listing review: conforms to the common listing standards of DAXA (한국 가상자산 거래소 자율규제 협회, Digital Asset eXchange Alliance)
4. Scope of business
- Spot trading (centered on KRW pairs)
- Some USDT pairs (limited)
- Derivatives / margin trading: not offered under Korean VASP regulation (Korean VASPs are restricted to spot only)
- staking / lending: limited service (with regulatory constraints)
- Fiat-deposit channel: only via the NH 농협은행 real-name account
5. Market share / trading volume
- Korea spot market share: approx. 25% (#2, behind Upbit‘s 70%)
- 24h volume: $0.5–2B (linked to market volatility)
- Customer base: centered on Korean residents (full KYC implemented)
- Global CEX ranking: within the top 20 (on a CoinGecko / CoinMarketCap aggregation basis)
6. History / major events
| Period | Item |
|---|---|
| 2014-01 | Bithumb established; began operations as one of Korea’s early full-scale CEXs |
| 2017 | Grew as one of the largest players alongside Upbit during Korea’s crypto boom |
| 2017-12 | Privacy-breach incident; leak of more than 3 万 customer records |
| 2018-06 | Outflow of crypto assets equivalent to approx. 350 億 won due to unauthorized access |
| 2019-03 | Outflow incident on the scale of 200 億 won due to internal misconduct |
| 2021-03 | Korea’s 특정금융정보법 came into force; the VASP registration regime began |
| 2021-09-24 | Completed VASP registration with the FIU (Korea’s class-1 registration cohort) |
| 2022–2023 | Management restructured after various lawsuits / ownership disputes |
| 2023 | Joined DAXA (the self-regulatory consortium); listing review made common |
| 2024–2025 | IPO preparation began in earnest; selected the KOSDAQ-listing lead underwriter |
| 2025 | Renewed the enhanced ISMS-P certification; rebuilt the compliance framework |
| 2026 | Continued to pursue the KOSDAQ listing (on an official-announcement basis) |
7. Strategic trends
- IPO strategy: mindful of the listing precedent of Upbit‘s parent Dunamu, aims for capital-market access via a KOSDAQ listing. If realized, it would become the 2 社 (or first) listed company as a Korean VASP
- DAXA participation: makes listing standards common within DAXA together with Upbit / Coinone / Korbit / GOPAX, distributing the cost of regulatory compliance
- NH 농협은행 relationship: continuation of the real-name account contract is the lifeline of business continuity. The AML/CFT responsibility-sharing negotiation on the NH bank side remains an ongoing issue
- 2024-2026 regulatory environment: building a framework for compliance with Korea’s 가상자산이용자보호법 (in force 2024-07 ), contributing to the user-protection fund, and responding to enhanced monitoring of unfair trading
- DeFi linkage: functions as a primary listing venue for Korean-family L1 / L2 tokens such as Klaytn (카카오 family), WEMIX, and XPLA
Related
- cex-upbit-korea — Korea spot market #1 (the most important cross-link)
- korea-cex-five-pillars-comparison — comparison of Korea’s 5 major CEX regimes
- global-cex-top10-comparison — global CEX top 10
- INDEX — exchanges domain index
- global-vasp-regulatory-comparison-matrix — global VASP regulatory comparison
- japan-financial-regulation — comparison with the Japanese regime
- fsa-vasp-registration-system — comparison with the Japanese VASP registration regime
Sources
- Public-information compilation (Bithumb Korea official IR / 회사 소개 페이지)
- Public-information compilation (FSC / FIU 가상자산사업자 등록 public list)
- Public-information compilation (KISA ISMS-P 認證 발표)
- Public-information compilation (NH 농협은행 실명확인 입출금 계정 보도)
- Public-information compilation (Bithumb IPO 2025–2026 KOSDAQ 상장 추진 보도, Korea Herald / 코인데스크 코리아)
- Public-information compilation (DAXA 자율규제 협의체 발표)
- Public-information compilation (가상자산이용자보호법 2024-07 시행 관련 보도)