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South Korean brokerage Kiwoom Securities is reportedly in talks to buy a stake in Bithumb, making it the latest traditional financial firm in the country to seek exposure to a local crypto exchange.
The two companies are reportedly discussing a third-party allotment of new shares that would allow Kiwoom Securities to acquire new shares issued by Bithumb, Chosun Biz <a href="https://biz.chosun.com/en/en-finance/2026/06/29/LOG5HCKPFZF4VGAKERT52THNTI/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">reported</a> on Monday.
Cointelegraph contacted Kiwoom Securities and Bithumb for comment on the reported talks.
The development makes Kiwoom Securities the latest traditional finance (TradFi) company to seek entry into the crypto markets as South Korea's Financial Services Commission (FSC) prepares to announce new <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/south-korea-announce-tokenized-securities-laws-july" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">regulatory reforms in July</a>, including a framework for tokenized securities, as the country prepares to bring them under its capital markets framework from 2027.&nbsp;
The developments are part of the amended Capital Markets Act and Electronic Securities Act, the country’s first tokenized securities framework, <a href="https://www.fsc.go.kr/no010101/86064?srchCtgry=&amp;curPage=&amp;srchKey=&amp;srchText=&amp;srchBeginDt=&amp;srchEndDt=" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">scheduled</a> to take full effect on Feb. 4, 2027.
On Wednesday, the <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/south-korea-token-securities-capital-market-overhaul" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">FSC folded token</a> securities infrastructure into a broader overhaul of the country’s capital markets, as part of its efforts to modernize traditional financial markets and potentially bring blockchain-based investment products closer to systems used for mainstream securities settlement and trading.
<img alt="" height="775" src="https://s3-images.ctmedia.io/media/content/pasted-image-1747.png" width="1885">
Top five cryptocurrency exchanges in South Korea by daily trading volume. Source: CoinGecko
Bithumb is one of South Korea’s largest crypto exchanges by daily volume, CoinGecko <a href="https://www.coingecko.com/en/exchanges/country/south-korea" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">data</a> shows.
Related: <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/south-korean-authorities-first-illegal-gambling-probe-polymarket-users" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">South Korea police probe Polymarket users over illegal gambling claims: Report</a>
<h2 id="korean-brokerages-target-crypto-exchanges">Korean brokerages target crypto exchanges</h2>
The reported Kiwoom talks come after several major South Korean financial firms moved to buy stakes in local crypto exchanges and exchange operators.
On May 29, Korea Investment &amp; Securities (KIS) and <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/okx-ventures-korea-investment-securities-buy-196-stake-in-coinone" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">OKX Ventures agreed</a> to invest a combined 160 billion won ($106 million) to buy a 19.6% stake in South Korean crypto exchange Coinone.
A day earlier, Samsung Securities, Samsung SDS and Samsung Card acquired a combined <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/samsung-dunamu-stake-upbit-digital-assets" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">4% stake in Dunamu</a>, the operator of South Korean crypto exchange Upbit, for $408 million, Cointelegraph reported on May 28.
On May 15, Hana Financial Group <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/hana-financial-dunamu-upbit-stake-acquisition-crypto-investment" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">said it would acquire a 6.55% stake</a> in Dunamu from Kakao Investment for more than $668 million, making it the Upbit operator’s fourth-largest shareholder.&nbsp;
In February, <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/mirae-asset-buy-92-percent-korbit-korea-crypto-exchange" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Mirae Asset Consulting agreed to acquire a 92.06%</a> stake in Korbit for $93 million, taking control of the majority of the exchange as part of its digital asset push.
Magazine: <a href="https://cointelegraph-magazine.com/polymarket-prediction-market-japan-harvard-university-ethereum-position-hodlers-digest/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Polymarket seeks Japan entry, Harvard dumps entire ETH position: Hodler’s Digest, May 17 – 23</a>

Kiwoom eyes Bithumb stake as Korean brokerages push into crypto: Report

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