Bithumb
Bitcoin exchange based in South Korea
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Bithumb (Korean: 빗썸) is a South Korean cryptocurrency exchange.[1][2] Founded in 2014, with headquarters in Seoul, it initially went by the name Xcoin, but was rebranded as Bithumb in 2015.[3]
 | |
| Founded | 2014 |
|---|---|
| Website | bithumb |
History
In October 2018, BK Global Consortium signed a deal to buy a majority share of BTC Holding Co., which is Bithumb's largest investor.[4]
On January 22, 2019, OTC-listed holding company Blockchain Industries signed a binding letter of intent to merge with Bithumb on or before March 1, 2019. The plan is to form a new publicly traded entity called the Blockchain Exchange Alliance (BXA) that would 'up-list' on either the New York Stock Exchange or NASDAQ and make BXA the first major cryptocurrency exchange to go public.[5]
On April 11, 2019, Bithumb announced a net loss of KRW205.5 billion (US$180 million) in 2018, a sharp turnaround from the KRW427.2 billion profit in 2017, despite 2018's sales rising 17.5% to KRW391.7 million. The company blamed the loss on the sharp decline in the price of cryptocurrencies and reduced trading volume.[6]
Controversy
In June 2017, hackers stole user information from a Bithumb employee's personal computer.[7]
In January 2018, Bithumb was raided by the government for alleged tax evasion.[8] They were found not guilty, but still had to pay nearly $28 million in back taxes.[9]
In June 2018, approximately $32 million of cryptocurrency was stolen from Bithumb in a hack.[10][11]
In January 2019, 30 out of 340 total Bithumb employees were laid off in response to declining trading volume and profits in 2018.[12]
On March 29, 2019, Bithumb said it had been hacked, blaming insiders, with nearly $20 million in EOS and Ripple tokens stolen.[13]
On September 2, 2020, local Korean news reported that Bithumb was raided by the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency over suspected investment fraud.[14][15]
In January 2026, Bithumb mistakenly transferred 2,000 bitcoin to the accounts of 695 customers. The total transferred was in excess of US$40 billion. The stated that they reversed the transaction within 35 minutes and managed to recover 99.7% of the funds.[16]
