Kiwoom Securities in talks to buy stake in Bithumb

South Korean brokerage Kiwoom Securities is in talks to buy a stake in Bithumb, the latest traditional financial firm in the country to seek exposure to a local crypto exchange. The companies are discussing a third-party allotment of new shares that would allow Kiwoom to acquire newly issued Bithumb shares.

Cointelegraph contacted Kiwoom Securities and Bithumb for comment. The move comes as the Financial Services Commission prepares to announce regulatory reforms in July, including a framework for tokenized securities. Those changes are part of the amended Capital Markets Act and Electronic Securities Act, with the tokenized securities framework due to take full effect on Feb.

4, 2027. On Wednesday, the FSC folded token securities infrastructure into a broader overhaul aimed at modernizing traditional markets and bringing blockchain-based investment products closer to mainstream securities settlement and trading systems. Bithumb is one of South Korea’s largest crypto exchanges by daily volume, CoinGecko data shows.

South Korea

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