South Korean brokerage Kiwoom Securities is in talks to acquire a Kiwoom Securities Bithumb stake through a third-party share allocation, under which Bithumb would issue new shares for Kiwoom to buy directly. No final terms have been agreed on the size of the investment or the resulting ownership percentage, according to a ChosunBiz report cited by local media.
Kiwoom Securities Bithumb Stake Talks Land in a Crowded Field
The negotiations place Kiwoom alongside a cluster of institutions recently positioning in South Korea’s exchange infrastructure. Hana Bank, one of the country’s four largest lenders, disclosed plans last month to acquire a $670 million stake in Dunamu, the operator of Upbit. Three Samsung affiliates subsequently agreed to purchase roughly $407.7 million worth of Dunamu shares, picking up a combined 4% interest.
International players have moved simultaneously. OKX Ventures announced in May a 19.6% stake purchase in Coinone, while Binance closed its long-delayed acquisition of Gopax.
The context matters for Kiwoom’s calculus: Bithumb is South Korea’s second-largest spot exchange by volume, and a successful IPO in 2028 would make a pre-listing entry relatively attractive. The exchange signed an IPO advisory agreement with Samjong KPMG running through end-2027, and its chief financial officer confirmed in April that a 2028 listing remains the target.
Regulatory Pressure Piling Up Before the IPO Window
The timing of the investment talks is awkward. On 24 June 2026, Digital Policy Alert reported that South Korea’s Personal Information Protection Commission fined Bithumb 210 million won (approximately $136,000) for transferring user data overseas without fully satisfying requirements under the Personal Information Protection Act.
The mechanics of the violation are specific. According to the Korea Herald, Bithumb shared order books with a foreign exchange between September and November 2025, sending user data overseas in the process. Bithumb notified users their information would go to the Stellar exchange; it was actually transferred to bingx.com, a system operated by a different entity. The regulator ordered Bithumb to revise its cross-border data transfer procedures.
That fine followed a larger enforcement action. Crypto Briefing reports South Korea’s Financial Intelligence Unit issued a 36.8 billion won AML penalty against Bithumb in March 2026, equivalent to approximately $24.6 million, after identifying deficiencies in customer due diligence, transaction monitoring, and transfers involving unregistered overseas virtual asset service providers. Crypto Briefing also notes a stricter penalty regime is set to take effect in September, raising the compliance stakes for any incoming institutional shareholder.
The Personal Information Protection Commission separately published new blockchain privacy guidelines requiring firms to build data-protection measures into blockchain-based services at the design stage.
The 20% Ownership Cap Shapes What Any Deal Can Look Like
Any stake Kiwoom acquires will need to sit inside the framework being constructed by the Digital Asset Basic Act. South Korea’s ruling Democratic Party and the Financial Services Commission have agreed to cap major shareholder ownership in domestic crypto exchanges at 20%, with holdings of up to 34% permitted under specific conditions still being finalised, according to CoinMarketCap.
The cap is designed to break up concentrated governance structures. Fincrime Central reports that major platforms including Bithumb and Gopax are currently controlled by dominant shareholders holding stakes exceeding 60%. Exchanges that fail to restructure within the three-year compliance window after the law’s enactment could face administrative penalties up to and including licence revocation.
The industry is pushing back. Fintech News Hong Kong reports that DAXA (the Digital Asset Exchange Alliance, representing South Korea’s five largest crypto exchanges) has opposed the cap, which the Financial Services Commission first proposed in January to address governance risk from concentrated ownership.
Beyond ownership structure, the Digital Asset Basic Act also carries implications for exchange business models. CoinDesk reports that entities seeking to issue value-linked digital assets, including fiat-backed stablecoins and real-world asset tokens, would need regulatory approval and must meet capital thresholds, operational capacity requirements, and reserve plans. The bill also introduces mandatory withdrawal delays on domestic exchanges as a fraud-prevention measure.
For Kiwoom, the 20% ceiling effectively sets the ceiling. If the stake purchased through the new share allocation lands above that threshold, the exchange would need to divest back below the limit within three years of the law taking effect. The September tightening of the AML penalty regime gives the compliance picture a harder edge: any institution buying into Bithumb now is buying into its enforcement history as well.
