South Korean crypto exchange Bithumb considers Nasdaq listing: report

Bithumb is reviewing an option to pursue listing in the U.S. Nasdaq, the South Korean exchange said during a shareholders meeting on Monday, according to a local news report from Daehan Economic.

It was reporte d last year that Bithumb was preparing to list on South Korea’s Kosdaq in the second half of 2025, with Samsung Securities as its underwriter. According to the Daehan report , a Bithumb representative said that the company is open to “all possibilities” when choosing where to launch its IPO.

The report, citing an expert in the local financial sector, said South Korea's regulatory stance on cryptocurrencies may have prevented Bithumb from pursuing a Kosdaq listing. South Korean regulators do not acknowledge cryptocurrencies as legitimate financial products, which has prevented the launch or trading of spot cryptocurrency exchange-traded products.

Bithumb is currently the second largest spot crypto trading platform in South Korea, processing over $574 million worth of trade volume in the past 24 hours, according to data from CoinMarketCap. The local market leader, Upbit, had $1.95 billion in trade volume during the same period.

Bithumb did not immediately respond to The Block's request for further comments.