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.

… Continue reading the full article at the original source below.