FTX Reportedly in Talks to Buy South Korean Exchange Bithumb

The exchange recently agreed to acquire troubled lender BlockFi and Canadian trading platform Bitvo

article-image

FTX’s Sam Bankman-Fried | Blockworks exclusive art by axel rangel

share

key takeaways

  • Conversations about the acquisition have been ongoing for several months, according to Bloomberg
  • Founded in South Korea in 2014, Bithumb has grown to become one of South Korea’s “big four” cryptocurrency exchanges

Sam Bankman-Fried’s FTX is looking to buy South Korean crypto exchange Bithumb, according to Bloomberg.

Acquisition talks have been ongoing for several months, a person familiar with the matter told the news outlet. There’s no word on Bithumb’s potential valuation.

The crypto bear market has given companies with larger cash reserves the perfect opportunity to acquire struggling competitors. FTX recently reached a deal to acquire troubled lender BlockFi for up to $240 million and agreed to purchase Bitvo and Embed Financial earlier in June. 

Alameda Research, another company founded by Bankman-Fried, also loaned $500 million to bankrupt crypto lender Voyager. Bankman-Fried is also Voyager’s single largest individual shareholder, holding 11% of the company. 

These moves further strengthen the rumor that Bankman-Fried is actively using the crypto market crash to assert his dominance in the industry.

Chris McCann, a general partner at early FTX investor Race Capital, told Bloomberg that Bankman-Fried is “not doing this out of the goodness of his own heart,” claiming that at this point “his ambitions knows no bounds.”

Founded in South Korea in 2014, Bithumb has grown to become one of South Korea’s “big four” cryptocurrency exchanges, alongside Upbit, Coinone and Korbit. Reports of Bithumb being up for sale have circulated since 2020, with the firm reportedly valued at 1.27 trillion won ($969 million) last year.

It currently handles about $560 million in daily trade volume, according to CoinGecko data.

Bithumb’s former chair Lee Jung-hoon was indicted in July last year after he allegedly swindled $100 million from the chair of BK Group, Kim Byung Gun. Bithumb was also among several South Korean crypto exchanges that were raided by local prosecutors last week, following investigations into TerraUSD’s collapse

An FTX spokesperson declined to comment. Bithumb did not respond to Blockworks’ request for comment by press time.


Get the news in your inbox. Explore Blockworks newsletters:

Tags

Decoding crypto and the markets. Daily, with Byron Gilliam.

Upcoming Events

Old Billingsgate

Mon - Wed, October 13 - 15, 2025

Blockworks’ Digital Asset Summit (DAS) will feature conversations between the builders, allocators, and legislators who will shape the trajectory of the digital asset ecosystem in the US and abroad.

Industry City | Brooklyn, NY

TUES - THURS, JUNE 24 - 26, 2025

Permissionless IV serves as the definitive gathering for crypto’s technical founders, developers, and builders to come together and create the future.If you’re ready to shape the future of crypto, Permissionless IV is where it happens.

Brooklyn, NY

SUN - MON, JUN. 22 - 23, 2025

Blockworks and Cracked Labs are teaming up for the third installment of the Permissionless Hackathon, happening June 22–23, 2025 in Brooklyn, NY. This is a 36-hour IRL builder sprint where developers, designers, and creatives ship real projects solving real problems across […]

recent research

Nillion_DeSci_Report_Template.png

Research

Nillion’s Monad Integration is poised to catalyze the next phase of DeSci’s evolution by eliminating key privacy bottlenecks. This synergy allows researchers, institutions, and DAOs to exchange sensitive data and insights securely while managing governance and payments onchain.

article-image

Celebrating the wisdom of a diamond-handed Bitcoin Legend

article-image

With the success of RWAs and stablecoins, DePINs could onboard the next wave of crypto users

article-image

Is crypto straying too far from things of value?

article-image

Firedancer and Solana ETFs look less significant than before

article-image

The newly passed House bill amplifies that strategic pivot for the Trump administration, from attempting austerity to running the economy hot

article-image

Unable to secure further funding, the game cycled through three different blockchains and at least five different game engines since 2018