The exchange has been working with advisory firm Samjong KPMG on its IPO preparation.
Crypto News
South Korean crypto exchange Bithumb has pushed its public listing timeline to sometime after 2028, according to a report from Maeil Business News Korea published Tuesday. The delay extends a listing that was originally planned for 2025.
CFO Jeong Sang-gyun told shareholders at the company's annual meeting that Bithumb would "focus on preparing for the listing until 2027," citing ongoing work to strengthen accounting policies and internal controls. The exchange has been working with advisory firm Samjong KPMG on its IPO preparation.
Shareholders at the same meeting reconfirmed CEO Lee Jae-won for a second two-year term. Under his tenure, Bithumb faced a six-month operational suspension and a $24 million fine from South Korean regulators over alleged Anti-Money Laundering violations.
The exchange also drew attention in February after mistakenly crediting users with approximately 2,000 Bitcoin each, instead of the intended 2,000 South Korean won. The error produced internal balances exceeding $40 billion on paper, though most entries existed only on the exchange's ledger and were subsequently reversed.
Bithumb's delayed listing comes as a parallel IPO effort advances at Dunamu, the operator of rival exchange Upbit, which is reportedly planning a public offering following a share swap with Naver Financial expected in September. A successful listing by either exchange could have significant implications for crypto adoption in South Korea.
South Korea's crypto landscape has been shifting on multiple fronts. President Lee Jae-myung, who took office in June 2025, moved to introduce stablecoin payment legislation shortly after. A proposed tax on crypto gains, which had faced repeated delays since its initial 2021 target date, may be scrapped entirely according to March reports. As of March 2025, an estimated 16 million South Koreans held accounts on domestic crypto exchanges.
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