12 Oct 2018 Simon Briggs
Bithumb Sold to Blockchain Consortium in a $350 Million Deal
Bithumb, the biggest Bitcoin exchange in South Korea was recently purchased by a Singaporean blockchain consortium.
BTC Korea Holdings, the shareholder of Bithumb, has sold 38 percent to BK Global Consortium for the price of 350 million dollars.
The contract with BK Global Consortium was finalized yesterday. The investment firm is intending to expand the exchange by combining its blockchain commerce settlement system with a stable coin. This is expected to result in a significant decrease in the commission.
BTC Holdings agreed to sell 50 percent + 1 share of its ownership to BK Group. That will make BK Global the complete owner of Bithumb as it will possess 76 percent in total.
Furthermore, the value of Bithumb was estimated at $1.8 billion which is higher than it was previously predicted at $1 billion. BK Global Consortium plans to purchase stakes from 10 other shareholders. The deal will be signed on December 12 and Kim Byung-gun formerly the fifth-largest shareholder will become the biggest one.
A source of the blockchain consortium commented on Kim Byung-gun‘s management abilities and how diversified they are. The plastic surgeon and CEO of BK Global have knowledge in the medical, fintech, and blockchain field in Singapore, and are expected to handle the business successfully.
Recently Bithumb announced that it made $35 million in the first half of 2018 even though in June the crypto exchange lost $40 million due to hackers. In the last 24 hours, Bithumb has witnessed more than $1 billion in action based on data from CoinMarketCap.
To secure the reliability and transparency of the exchange Bithumb purchased NetMarble – a South Korean game publishing company that will be responsible for the management of the platform.
According to the BK consortium Bithumb will play a significant role in many businesses that connect digital currency to real life. The CEO of BK Global has plans to launch Bithumb Dex that will serve as a decentralized exchange and will allow customers to trade cryptocurrency more efficiently.
An official of BK Global Consortium stated that online retailers such as Alibaba and Amazon are dealing with large commission fees that are a problem to customers. Blockchain technology can minimize the commission fees making the process better for both parties.
With the addition of a stable coin, the payment system will stabilize, and BK Consortium will take hold of the currency linked to the US dollar.
Bitcoin Cryptocurrency exchange Bithumb Blockchain Development bitcoins South Korea
