FTX Mulls Buys Top South Korean Exchange Bithumb

by Arthur · July 22, 2022

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Important takeaways

FTX is in talks with Bithumb about a potential acquisition, according to a new report from Bloomberg.
The two companies are said to have been in advanced talks for several months. A spokesperson for Bithumb commented that nothing could be confirmed “at this stage”.
FTX appears to be on a buying spree; it recently acquired crypto lending platform BlockFi after it suffered a liquidity crisis.

Leading crypto exchange FTX is reportedly negotiating a potential acquisition of top South Korean exchange Bithumb. No agreement has yet been confirmed.

Advanced calls

Sam Bankman-Fried’s crypto empire is constantly expanding.

In accordance Bloomberg, global crypto trading platform FTX is in advanced talks to buy top South Korean crypto exchange Bithumb. Although no deal has been announced yet, both companies have reportedly been in discussions for months.

When asked for comment, a Bithumb spokesperson said nothing could be confirmed “at this stage.”

Bithumb is one of the top centralized crypto exchanges in South Korea, along with Upbit and Coinone. Established in 2014, it currently lists 188 cryptocurrencies. Data from CoinGecko performance that Bithumb reached over $3 billion in daily trading volume at the end of November 2021; the figure has now come down to approximately $558 million.

The collapse by prominent crypto hedge fund Three Arrows Capital has led to several crypto companies struggling with liquidity, with some of them (such as crypto lending firms Celsius and crypto exchange platform Voyager Digital) pauses customer withdrawals and petitions for bankruptcy.

See also Crypto News Digest by U.Today

However, FTX CEO and co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried has taken on a new role as the crypto industry’s lender of last resort. Through his various companies, Bankman-Fried has provided credit to Voyager (pre-bankruptcy filing) and acquired BlockFi. He has also stated that over $2 billion is ready to be distributed for further rescue operations.

The Bithumb acquisition seems unlikely to be due to recent market turmoil, considering that talks have reportedly been going on for months. Rather, FTX could look to expand its presence in South Korea in a move reminiscent of 2020 buy by Blockfolio.

Disclosure: At the time of writing, the author of this piece owned ETH and several other cryptocurrencies.

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