Bithumb Dominates 25% of Korea’s Crypto Market as $1B IPO Looms

South Korea’s crypto arena just got a new heavyweight champ—Bithumb now commands a quarter of the market. And guess what? They’re flexing straight into a billion-dollar IPO.

How’s that for timing? Just as regulators pretend to ’understand’ blockchain, the exchange quietly stacks dominance. Classic finance play: monopolize first, ask questions later.

Watch this space—where there’s smoke, there’s usually a speculative bonfire.

Bithumb sets the stage for public listing

Bithumb is presently in preparation for IPO. The exchange is now racing to reach 1 billion dollars in IPO goals.

A listing is scheduled for the second half of 2025, with Samsung Securities as the lead underwriter. The bourse plans to list South Korea’s KOSDAQ stock market and is considering a dual listing of the cryptocurrency exchange operator on the United States’ NASDAQ market to attract more global investors, KRX said.

Bithumb has already broken its non-exchange businesses into smaller units to make the company easier to manage ahead of the IPO chase. NYC 5G (Bithumb A) was spun off on 31 July 2025. This MOVE is intended to simplify its corporate setup and remove core trading functions from other projects, such as “blockchain research, consulting, and NFT efforts.”

Solid financials back Bithumb, and its upcoming IPO is seen as a strategic step toward greater transparency. The move comes as the company works to rebuild trust following past controversies, including investigations into former executives over allegations of fraud and embezzlement.

Bithumb remains under regulatory scrutiny

Despite a few recent wins, Bithumb remains under intense regulatory scrutiny. South Korea enforces some of the world’s strictest crypto regulations, where violations can result in severe penalties.

In the first half of 2025, Bithumb was warned about potential regulatory suspension due to Know Your Customer (KYC) regulations. The Financial Services Commission had to develop a countermeasure for over 400 suspected user accounts.

That backdrop has pushed many smaller Korean crypto exchanges out of the business. Only two big players remain in the country: Bithumb and Upbit. International exchange players like Binance also encountered challenges from the authorities, and the tight data privacy law proved difficult to sidestep.

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