South Korea's Bithumb shares safety and transparency updates ahead of 2028 IPO

Bithumb’s ambitions of having a public listing have not been shelved despite its recent troubles with regulators, which saw it get fined alongside a suspension and an accidental Bitcoin payout that was once valued at $43 billion.

The second-largest crypto exchange in South Korea has informed its shareholders that it will be putting measures in place to ensure its house and books are in order. The message is being seen as the company trying to get the buy-in of investors who may be wary of the risks of going public currently.

The company had previously marked 2025 for its initial public offering (IPO), and then it shifted its targets to 2027. Now, Bithumb is saying that the listing will “highly likely take place after 2028.” 

According to Bithumb’s CFO Jeong Sang-gyun, the company is currently in a preparatory phase and has signed an IPO advisory agreement with Samjong KPMG that runs through 2027. Samsung Securities is set to serve as lead manager for the planned KOSDAQ listing.

What delayed the Bithumb IPO? 

A payout blunder occurred in early 2026. A staffer had entered Bitcoin as the payment unit instead of won during a promotional “Random Box” event. The system credited users with 620,000 BTC, which was worth around $43 billion at that time. The figure dwarfed what Bithumb actually held in its reserve, which was around 46,000 BTC.

Bithumb stated that it was able to recover almost all of the funds and put in place a company-wide task force to stop a repeat. 

However, the incident has already caused some dent in investor confidence, as the price of BTC on Bithumb briefly fell 15% as panicked users sold. The exchange later pledged to compensate affected traders at roughly 110% of their losses.

Did regulators fine and suspend Bithumb? 

The Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU), the anti-money-laundering body under South Korea’s Financial Services Commission (FSC), slapped Bithumb with a 36.8 billion won fine (about $25 million) and a six-month partial suspension. The regulators stated that the company failed to verify user identities in over 6.65 million cases. 

The Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) also opened a probe into the exchange’s ledger and risk controls, investigating if they matched the assets its users had deposited.

Bithumb challenged its suspension in court, and on May 1, 2026, the Seoul Administrative Court’s 2nd Administrative Division granted a stay, letting the exchange keep operating normally until a final ruling. The company has said it plans to “faithfully present” its case and is reportedly weighing a challenge to the fine as well.

Are the transparency measures meant to reassure Bithumb’s investors? 

Bithumb has proposed governance changes that seem to be a fresh start. 

The exchange planned to appoint Sogang University tax expert Jung Yeon-dae as a new auditor after the FSS flagged “complacent supervision.” It also established a 100 billion won user protection fund (about $68 million) to cover any future incident. 

The board sought approval from its board at its March 31 shareholders’ meeting to double its bond issuance ceiling to 300 billion won, as it moved to secure liquidity ahead of a listing.

The exchange reported around 651 billion won ($430 million) in 2025 revenue, recording a net profit near $51 million, and domestic market share above 30%. However, its share has since dropped as trading volumes across South Korea have contracted in 2026.

Are Korean brokerages interested in this IPO as rules shift?

Bithumb is also fielding interest from Korea’s brokerages, and one of them is Kiwoom Securities, which has been in talks to buy newly issued shares through a third-party allotment, with Samsung Securities, Mirae Asset, and Korea Investment & Securities also pursuing stakes. 

The interest lines up with proposed rules that would give licensed securities firms a larger role in digital assets and with an FSC plan to cap major-shareholder equity in exchanges. 

Bithumb Holdings currently controls about 73% of the exchange, and that stake may need to shrink if the cap takes effect.

The smartest crypto minds already read our newsletter. Want in? Join them.