USDBithumb Targets 2028 IPO After Governance Overhaul
Exchange sets phased accounting, risk and regulatory roadmap following major control failure
TL;DR
- Bithumb plans to complete an initial public offering in 2028 after upgrading its accounting, governance and risk controls.
- The exchange aims to finish internal preparations in 2026 and seek a preliminary listing review in 2027.
- The roadmap follows regulatory scrutiny over an erroneous promotional distribution involving 620,000 BTC.
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Bithumb said on August 3, 2026, that it is targeting an initial public offering in 2028 under a multi-year roadmap designed to strengthen internal controls, adopt international financial-reporting standards and prepare the South Korean crypto exchange for regulatory listing review.
The plan divides Bithumb’s preparations into three stages, with operational and accounting reforms scheduled first, followed by regulatory review and the proposed offering.
Bithumb plans to complete assessments of its risk-management systems by the end of the first phase and align its accounting and compliance practices with domestic and international standards. The exchange currently prepares its accounts under Korean Generally Accepted Accounting Principles, known as K-GAAP, and is working toward compliance with Korean International Financial Reporting Standards, or K-IFRS.
A leading domestic accounting firm is assisting Bithumb with the risk-management and accounting-readiness process. Bithumb said it is developing a framework that meets the standards expected of global listed companies, placing internal-control testing and financial-reporting reliability at the center of its preparations.
The exchange also completed a major internal reorganization intended to clarify responsibility across its business units, simplify its corporate and operational structure and reduce potential conflicts of interest. Bithumb is diversifying its business model and securing liquid assets as part of an effort to maintain financial stability during the listing process.
“Bithumb is advancing towards the ambitious goal of an IPO to maximize corporate value and demonstrate management transparency,” the company said.
Bithumb added, “Bithumb’s listing is not simply about expanding the company’s size, but a process of building solid trust so that customers can trade with greater peace of mind.”
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Listing venue remains unresolved
Bithumb has considered more than one potential market for the offering. Earlier discussions included a possible Nasdaq listing, while the company later shifted toward pursuing an initial listing on South Korea’s Kosdaq market. The latest announcement did not settle the final destination.
The exchange is working with domestic and international securities firms, law firms and accounting firms on corporate valuation, legal-risk reviews, accounting preparation and strategies for navigating the preliminary listing process.
Bithumb said the timetable could change depending on market conditions, the duration of regulatory reviews and the outcome of the preliminary listing examination. The proposed completion date is therefore a management target rather than a guaranteed transaction date.
The current schedule replaces an earlier IPO objective set for 2025, extending the exchange’s listing ambitions by approximately three years. The renewed plan gives Bithumb additional time to establish stronger controls before formally seeking approval.
Bithumb’s domestic market position was described inconsistently, with the exchange characterized both as South Korea’s largest crypto exchange and as the country’s second-largest. The discrepancy was not resolved.
Transfer error intensifies control scrutiny
Bithumb’s internal systems came under heightened regulatory attention earlier in the year after an employee mistakenly distributed about 620,000 BTC to users during a promotional campaign.
The erroneous allocation was valued at approximately $43 billion at the time in one account and summarized as a roughly $40 billion transfer blunder in another. The difference reflected separate descriptions of the same incident and was not reconciled.
The distribution was an operational mistake rather than a confirmed permanent loss of the full bitcoin amount. The error also temporarily affected bitcoin trading on Bithumb’s platform.
South Korea’s Financial Supervisory Service opened an investigation into the exchange’s internal controls and risk-management practices after the incident. The inquiry placed additional pressure on Bithumb to demonstrate that its systems could prevent similar operational failures before it entered the public markets.
The company’s roadmap addresses those concerns through control testing, clearer management accountability, accounting reform and a more streamlined business structure. Bithumb intends to complete those changes before submitting its preliminary listing-review request.
Dunamu, the operator of rival crypto exchange Upbit, is also pursuing IPO plans through a tie-up with Naver Financial, adding another public-listing initiative among South Korea’s major crypto trading platforms.
This article has been refined and enhanced by ChatGPT.
