Bithumb, one of South Korea's largest cryptocurrency exchanges, has laid out a multi-year path toward going public, targeting an initial public offering in 2028. The exchange plans to spend 2026 upgrading its internal controls and switching from Korea's domestic K-GAAP accounting standard to the international K-IFRS framework, a prerequisite step for companies seeking a public listing in South Korea.
Under the timeline, Bithumb intends to file for a preliminary listing review in 2027 before pursuing the actual IPO the following year. The company acknowledged that the schedule “could shift with market conditions and the pace of the review,” leaving room for delays if regulators or market conditions demand it.
Restructuring to Address Conflicts of Interest
As part of its preparation, Bithumb has split off Bithumb Asset into a separate business line, a move aimed at eliminating potential conflicts of interest ahead of a public listing. The exchange has also brought on domestic and overseas underwriters, law firms and accountants to help steer the listing process, signaling it is treating the IPO as a serious, resourced effort rather than a distant aspiration.
In its announcement, Bithumb pledged to build out “transparent governance, stronger internal control, better investor protection, sustainable growth and a management system built to global standards” — language that points directly at the kind of scrutiny South Korean regulators and prospective public investors are likely to apply.
A Track Record That Still Needs Repairing
That scrutiny is not hypothetical. Bithumb was hit with a $24.5 million fine and a six-month partial suspension in March 2026 over anti-money-laundering violations. In June 2026, the exchange's CEO, Lee Jae-won, was booked as a bribery suspect, and in February 2026 a display error mistakenly credited thousands of users with Bitcoin they had not actually received. Each of those episodes underscores why Bithumb's IPO roadmap leans so heavily on governance and compliance upgrades: a public listing will require convincing both regulators and investors that the exchange has moved past a string of operational and legal stumbles before its 2028 target comes due.
