Author

Tim Alper

Author

Tim Alper

About Author

Tim Alper is a British journalist and features writer who has worked at Cryptonews.com since 2018. He has written for media outlets such as the BBC, the Guardian, and Chosun Ilbo. He has also worked…

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Last updated: 

September 11, 2025

The crypto exchange Upbit has launched a coin listing spree as a response to its South Korean rival Bithumb’s trading volume growth.

The South Korean newspaper Seoul Kyungjae reported that Upbit has listed seven tokens in the past 10 days.

Upbit Listing Spree: Will It Stop Bithumb’s Surge?

The outlet wrote that on September 9, Bithumb’s domestic market share climbed to 46%, with Upbit’s share standing at 50.6%.

Upbit has dominated the South Korean market since around 2022, enjoying market share dominance above the 80% mark in some months.

This has led some lawmakers to complain that its operator, Dunmau, has become the crypto exchange sector’s de facto monopoly.

But Bithumb has been chipping away at Upbit’s market share in recent months. It has struck a partnership deal with Kookmin Bank, South Korea’s biggest financial player.

And it has also launched a spinoff firm as it looks to become the first domestic exchange to debut on the NASDAQ stock exchange.

Upbit appears to have responded to Bithumb’s resurgence by launching new altcoin pairings and listing a wider range of coins.

An unnamed South Korean exchange official told the media outlet that Upbit is concerned that Bithumb has narrowed the market share gap to less than 5% without resorting to novel promotions. The official opined:

“Upbit cannot help but feel a sense of crisis.”

WLD Listing

The media outlet wrote that Upbit’s response to Worldcoin (WLD) trade volume growth in South Korea has been telling.

When WLD transaction volumes pushed Bithumb’s market share to 46% on September 9, Upbit responded rapidly.

Upbit announced it would be listing WLD at 7 pm KST the same day and completed its listing just two hours later, at 9 pm KST.

Upbit’s latest listing, at 1:30 am KST on September 11, was the Linea (LINEA). The exchange’s September listings tally has already surpassed its total number of listings for the whole of August.

Customers May Suffer, Experts Warn

The market leader has traditionally taken a much more conservative attitude to coin listing than Bithumb, which also continues to add coins to its platform.

Should the two firms become embroiled in a listings war, critics warn, customers could suffer in the long run.

Experts said they were “concerned” that the “fierce competition between exchanges” could lead platform managers to make “hasty decisions” that “compromise the review process.”

The experts noted that while listing frenzies continue, South Korean delisting events are becoming more common.

A combined total of 25 altcoins have been delisted by Bithumb, Upbit, and their closest rivals, Korbit, Coinone, and GOPAX, since July this year.

Several of these coins had only recently been listed on the platforms. An unnamed crypto industry executive suggested that Seoul’s efforts to police the sector may be at fault.

The source said:

“Regulators only allow domestic exchanges to provide spot trading. That means that the only way they can compete with one another is by expanding their listings. It is ironic that regulators’ attempts to police the industry are actually spurring listing competition and weakening investor protection.”

Author

Tim Alper

Author

Tim Alper

About Author

Tim Alper is a British journalist and features writer who has worked at Cryptonews.com since 2018. He has written for media outlets such as the BBC, the Guardian, and Chosun Ilbo. He has also worked…

Share

Last updated: 

July 2, 2025

The South Korean crypto exchange Bithumb is set to launch a spinoff company as it pushes ahead with an initial public offering (IPO) bid.

The trading platform has indicated that it is still on track to debut on the KOSDAQ exchange in the first half of 2026.

However, South Korean market insiders are reportedly wary about lingering ownership questions ahead of the potential launch.

Meanwhile, more domestic banks are joining a stablecoin alliance with a view to co-launching KRW-pegged tokens.

Bithumb Spinoff Gets Green Light

The South Korean media outlet News Tomato reported that Bithumb’s IPO process has now begun in earnest following a Supreme Court ruling that absolved the former Bithumb Holdings Chairman Lee Jung-hoon of fraud charges in March this year.

After the ruling, Bithumb asked the regulatory Financial Services Commission (FSC) to approve its spinoff plans in April.

The FSC was not fully satisfied with the initial application, but Bithumb has since amended its application twice.

At the end of June, the FSC finally gave its approval for a plan that will see Bithumb continue operating its existing exchange platform under its current name.

New Firm Will Act as Holding Company

The newly established corporation, tentatively named Bithumb A, will act as a holding company. It will also spearhead new Bithumb-related business investments.

Bithumb has chosen Samsung Securities as its lead manager for the KOSDAQ listing. The company is currently completing due diligence protocols.

Bithumb explained that its “restructuring” would help optimize growth strategies for each of its business arms “by separating their functions.”

The move will help Bithumb “secure agility in new business avenues,” the exchange claimed.

However, the media outlet said that the market is “still cautious” about an “opaque governance structure” that “could undermine investor confidence.”

Currently, Bithumb is owned by Bithumb Holdings, with the firms DAA, Vidente, and BTHMB all owning sizeable stakes. Other shareholders hold a 25.1% stake in the firm.

However, the media outlet wrote that the “actual control structure” between these parties “has not been clearly revealed.”

An unnamed domestic securities industry insider said that a “complex and opaque governance structure cannot help but promote anxiety among investors.”

The insider said that if it wants to attract capital from external investors, Bithumb will need to demonstrate a “high level of transparency and social responsibility.”

Busan Bank Joins Stablecoin Union

Meanwhile, the South Korean news agency Yonhap reported that BNK Busan Bank announced on June 2 that it has officially joined the Stablecoin Division at the Open Blockchain/DID Association (OBDIA).

The bank added that it has also begun conducting broad joint research projects focusing on stablecoins.

OBDIA launched as a blockchain-focused non-profit organization in 2018. However, in April this year, the group experienced a new lease of life when it added a stablecoin subgroup.

A slew of major banks have joined the division, including the high street heavyweights Kookmin, Shinhan, Woori, Nonghyup, and IBK Industrial Bank.

The neobank K Bank has also joined OBDIA, with its online rival Toss Bank also reportedly keen on becoming a member.

Yonhap reported that Busan Bank plans to build a “digital currency model” that can be used on the South Korean market.

The bank says that its experience of operating the blockchain-powered local stablecoin Dongbaekjeon will prove of great importance. A Busan Bank spokesperson explained:

“Since stablecoin-related regulations are still in progress, we need to develop capabilities that let us respond to various scenarios with flexibility. We want to play a meaningful role [once the government] institutionalizes [stablecoins].”

Lawmakers are pressing ahead with work on a bill that seeks to lay the groundwork for the issuance of private-sector stablecoins.

The move will partially reverse a ban on all forms of token issuance that has been in place since 2019.

South Korean prosecutors raided the headquarters of crypto exchange Bithumb on March 19 as part of an investigation into whether the company’s former CEO misused corporate funds to purchase an apartment, according to local media reports.

Authorities from the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors’ Office searched Bithumb’s Yeoksam-dong offices, looking into claims that the exchange provided a 3 billion won ($2.3 million) lease deposit to its former CEO and current advisor, Kim Dae-sik.

Investigators suspect that Kim used a portion of these funds to acquire a personal residence in Seoul’s Seongsu-dong district.

The timing of the investigation raises fresh concerns for Bithumb, which has been working toward a long-awaited initial public offering (IPO).

CEO Lee Jae-won recently reaffirmed the company’s intent to list on the stock market in 2025 and has made structural changes to minimize legal risks tied to key shareholders.

Funds repaid

The Financial Supervisory Service (FSS), South Korea’s financial regulator, previously examined the case before transferring it to prosecutors.

Following the investigation, a Bithumb spokesperson acknowledged in an interview with The Chosun Daily that Kim had taken a loan from an external lender after the FSS investigation and later repaid the funds.

Despite the repayment, prosecutors are reviewing whether the original transaction violated financial regulations or corporate governance rules. The case has intensified scrutiny over Bithumb’s internal financial management as authorities continue to monitor the country’s crypto sector for potential misconduct.

It has also raised concerns about broader governance and financial practices within the exchange, which has faced repeated legal and regulatory scrutiny in recent years.

Listing allegations

The raid comes amid separate allegations that Bithumb and rival exchange Upbit facilitated token listings through intermediaries who allegedly charged projects hefty fees.

Researcher Wu Blockchain reported that some projects paid between $2 million and $10 million to secure listings on the exchanges. The allegations also suggest that certain intermediaries had ties to Upbit shareholders and market makers, with fees ranging from 3% to 5% of token supplies.

Upbit has denied the claims and demanded that Wu Blockchain provide a list of projects that allegedly paid brokerage fees, calling for evidence to support the accusations.

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