Korea's Largest Bitcoin Exchange Sells Stake in $350 Million Deal

Bithumb, currently the largest cryptocurrency exchange in South Korea by trading volume, just confirmed it has sold more than 38 percent of its total ownership to a blockchain consortium based in Singapore, for 400 billion won, or $350 million.

As reported by CoinDesk Korea, Bithumb confirmed the deal was signed on Oct. 11 with BK Global Consortium, a blockchain investment firm formed by BK Global, a plastic surgery medical group in Singapore.

BTC Holdings Company, which currently owns 76 percent of Bithumb's equity, has agreed to sell 50 percent + 1 shares of that 76 percent ownership to BK Group – a move that would make the latter the biggest controller of Bithumb when the transaction is complete.

The report added that the acquisition deal valued Bithumb at more than 1 trillion won, or around $880 million. Subsequently, Kim Byung Gun, a plastic surgeon and also the chairman of BK Group, will be the largest shareholder of Bithumb.

Based on the report, Kim is also an early cryptocurrency investor, who founded an initial coin offering (ICO) consulting firm and ICO platform in Singapore last August.

The news comes just months after several of Bithumb's shareholders revealed the crypto exchange's financial numbers, showing it made net profits of about $35 million in the first half of this year, despite a rough June for the firm after a $40 million hack.

Following a rough Q3 as the firm suspended new account openings due to a bank contract issue – which led to a significant drop in trading volume – Bithumb has seen $1.1 billion in activity over the last 24 hours, based on data from CoinMarketCap.

Bithumb image via Shutterstock