Crypto exchange Bithumb is reportedly looking for a buyer
1 min readSouth Korea’s largest cryptocurrency exchange Bithumb is reportedly looking for a buyer once again.
Herald Corporation reported the news on Tuesday, citing investment banking industry sources. Accounting giant Samjong KPMG is said to be in charge of the Bithumb sale, at a price tag of at least 500 billion won (~$430 million) and up to 700 billion won (~$604 million).
Some foreign financial investors and domestic private equity funds are reportedly interested in buying Bithumb. But they will have to go through a complicated process due to uncertainties around the exchange, per the report.
Bithumb and its chairman Lee Jung Hoon are currently under investigation by the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency. They are accused of pre-selling Bithumb’s native BXA tokens worth about 30 billion won (~$25 million) to investors and then not listing the token, which has allegedly led to investors’ losses. Lee is also charged with evading property abroad.
Bithumb previously looked to sell itself in 2018 to BK Global Consortium, but that deal was canceled last October because BK chairman Kim Byung-Gun could not pay the entire amount. At that time, Bithumb’s selling price was reportedly around 400 billion won (~$345 million).
