South Korean crypto exchange Bithumb eyes US IPO

South Korea-based cryptocurrency exchange Bithumb is reportedly considering a United States initial public offering (IPO).

According to a Sept. 30 report by local news outlet DNews, Bithumb announced during a Sept. 30 shareholder meeting that the company is considering a NASDAQ listing. The company is purportedly planning to go public and be listed in the second half of 2025.

In order to better focus on the core exchange business ahead of the IPO, Bithumb is also considering spinning off its other businesses into secondary companies. The currently considered company names include Bithumb A and Bithumb Investments and the new entity would take over the holding company, investment, and real estate leasing business divisions.

The Bithumb holding the IPO will solely focus on the core cryptocurrency exchange business and adjacent operations. Bithumb was previously considered a Korean Securities Dealers Automated Quotations (KOSDAQ) listing in 2020 but later abandoned the plans due to regulatory uncertainty. A company official commented on the situation:

“Regarding listing, all possibilities are being considered, domestic and overseas.”

DNews citing a local industry expert, explains that “financial authorities do not recognize virtual assets as financial products, so even Bitcoin spot ETFs cannot be issued domestically,” suggesting that a local Bithumb listing is unlikely. He then added:

“Since Coinbase, the largest virtual asset exchange in the US, is listed on NASDAQ, Bithumb might turn its eyes overseas rather than to the KOSPI or KOSDAQ.”

The news follows today’s reports that Coinbase is seeing its mobile application’s downloads grow as retail traders dive back into the market. Data shows that the application went from 40.4 million downloads on Oct. 1, 2023, to 45 million at the time of writing. This translates to nearly five million downloads in a year.

The report also follows recent the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) giving the green light to Nasdaq’s International Securities Exchange (ISE) to list and trade options on BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), following a rule change.

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