South Korea's traditional finance industry is no longer watching crypto from the sidelines. Kiwoom Securities, a major South Korean retail brokerage, is reportedly in talks to acquire a stake in Bithumb, one of the country's largest cryptocurrency exchanges, Cointelegraph reported. The discussions reportedly involve a third-party share allotment — Bithumb issuing new shares for Kiwoom to buy — though the size and terms have not been disclosed, and neither company has publicly confirmed a deal.
The terms, with a caveat
Treat the specifics as a report, not a done deal. What's described is exploratory, and South Korean rules generally cap a single shareholder in a crypto firm at around 20% (with more allowed only in special cases), per The Block — so any Kiwoom holding would likely be a minority stake. Bithumb has also had a bumpy stretch financially, and is widely reported to be preparing for an eventual IPO, now expected after 2028.
Why Korea's financiers are rushing in
The move fits a clear pattern: established Korean financial institutions are scrambling for a foothold in crypto ahead of a major regulatory shift. South Korea is preparing a Digital Asset Basic Act and a framework for tokenized securities, due to take effect in 2027 — the kind of legal clarity that lets banks and brokerages get involved where they once held back.
The evidence is piling up. Last month, Hana Bank disclosed a roughly $670 million stake in Dunamu, the operator of rival exchange Upbit, and Korea Investment & Securities has been building ties with Bithumb and weighing other exchange investments. For firms like Kiwoom, crypto trading is a revenue stream — fees and commissions — in a country where retail enthusiasm for digital assets is enormous.
Who the players are
Kiwoom is a retail-brokerage heavyweight in Seoul, long dominant in everyday stock trading. Bithumb is among Korea's biggest crypto exchanges by volume, though it has faced a rough patch — its revenue and profitability have come under pressure, and it has dealt with regulatory and operational scrutiny. A capital injection and the imprimatur of an established broker could help steady the business and smooth its path toward a public listing.
The bigger picture
This is the convergence of traditional finance and crypto, playing out fast in one of the world's most crypto-active markets. Boursel has tracked the same current elsewhere — crypto venture funds broadening into mainstream tech, banks courting stablecoins, and now brokerages buying into exchanges. South Korea, with its high smartphone use, young investor base and appetite for risk, is a natural proving ground: when the rules clear, the incumbents move.
For investors, the signal is less about any single stake than about direction. The firms that once treated crypto as a fringe risk increasingly see it as infrastructure worth owning — and the line between a "brokerage" and a "crypto company" keeps getting blurrier. Whether the Kiwoom-Bithumb talks produce a deal or not, the trend they illustrate is real, and accelerating.
