Korean cryptocurrency exchange Bithumb has been bought by BK Global Consortium which is based in Singapore for a little over $350 million.  This might be considered a great buy since in early 2018 Bithumb was valued at over $850 million.  BK Global Consortium looks to grow Bithumb through their blockchain e-commerce settlement system and stable coin operation.  This will lower commissions on the existing settlement system.

The largest shareholder before this acquisition was BTC Korea Holdings.  BK Global Consortium was able to buy shares from not only BTC Korea Holdings but from 10 other shareholders.  The deal will be completed in December.

Who is Kim Byung-gun?

Kim Byung-gun, who was originally the 5th largest shareholder, will become the largest Korean shareholder through this deal.  Kim Byung-gun the chairman for BK Group has many years of experience in medical care (Plastic Surgery), Fintech, and blockchain space in Singapore.  He will lead the way to bring Bithumb to the global market.

Bithumb DEX

Kim has already said that he will look to create Bithumb DEX a decentralized exchange.  The timeline seems to be sooner than Binance and their plans to launch their own decentralized exchange.  Bithumb DEX will enable users around the world to send and receive virtual currency easier.  The DEX will launch through their partner OneRoot who will provide their Ethereum-based R1 transaction protocol for order matching and liquidity.

OneRoot is a Chinese company that specializes traffic sharing and a win-win ecosystem via a profit-sharing mechanism of the platform.

We are seeing many exchanges looking into DEX because of the dangers of hackers.  A little over a month ago Bithumb’s shareholders revealed the crypto exchange’s financial numbers, showing it made net profits of about $35 million in the first half of 2018.  This is despite getting hacked for 40 million in June.

DEX’s offer the same trustless benefits as crypto-assets, along with security and privacy.  However, their main issue is in regards to liquidity.  Other issues include unfriendly user UI/UX and the inability to accommodate fiat currency.

Many leaders in the crypto exchange space feel DEX’s are the future, it will just be a matter of “when” not “if”.

Disrupting the E-Commerce Industry

This could be a game changer for the e-commerce industry and really disrupt large conglomerates like Amazon, Alibaba, and in Korea such as Coupang and G Market as they charge large commission fees.  Blockchain payment systems could greatly lower commission fees for customers.  This would create a clear competitive advantage over the large e-commerce giants.

Merchants are also excited about the prospect of decentralized e-commerce platforms.  Large fees from current e-commerce platforms not only hurt the merchants but the customers as well.  However, the worst part could be the fact that the data collected is not shared with the merchants.  Data that can be used to create strategies for future growth.

Decentralized e-commerce platforms will allow merchants to see their traffic and provide both the sellers and the buyers the chance to get incentives for boosting the number of people they reach.  This will bring about a new form of marketing and getting new customers that the old ways of clickbait ads and displays.

BK Global Consortium is also looking to create a stable coin to stabilize the payment system.

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Bithumb is one of Asia’s largest crypto exchangers, holding over $360 million in assets.

Today’s crypto exchange hack saw the virtual hackers steal $30 million worth of cryptocurrency from the firm. The company has announced that it will cover all the losses.

Withdrawal and deposit services have been temporarily withdrawn following the attack, and users’ assets have been temporarily transferred to a more secure cold wallet. It’s unknown when Bithumb transactions will begin again.

Bitcoin’s Value following Today’s Crypto Exchange Hack

Although Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies have yet to completely recover from last week’s crypto exchange hack, they have been looking more steady recently. However, following this morning’s attack, Bitcoin dropped by $200. The current market value is hovering around $6,600.

A Bad Month for Korean Company Bithumb

The news of the crypto exchange hacks comes just two weeks after Korean company Bithumb was hit with a $28 million tax bill. The company was also investigated for tax evasion, but no wrongdoings were found.

In addition to this, the Bithumb crypto exchange hack marks their third attack in just 12 months.

This should prompt the company to take tougher security measures in order to keep their customer’s assets safe.

Advice for Crypto Traders in Korea

Following all the local crypto exchange hacks, cryptocurrencies are being shed in a pretty bad light by the Korean media.

However, we know that this isn’t the full picture. If you are trading crypto, there are measures that you can take to keep your currency safe and secure.

Most importantly, never keep your currency in exchange unless you’re actively trading. As soon as you’ve made your trade, immediately withdraw your coins. Although Korean company Bithumb has agreed to cover the losses from the crypto exchange hack, not all exchange sites would do the same. Keep them where you know they’re safe.

The safest place to keep your coins is in a coin wallet. A cold storage wallet, such as a USB hard drive is the safest place to keep your coins- however, it is more expensive and can be time intensive to use. Alternatively, you can use a hot wallet, such as cloud storage or a mobile app to store your currency. It’s worth bearing in mind, though, that these methods are more vulnerable to attacks.

Most traders keep their currency in a combination of hot and cold wallets. They store large sums of crypto in cold wallets and more accessible amounts in hot storage.

With all the recent crypto exchange hacks that have taken place, it’s time to trade responsibly. We hope that Korean company, Bithumb get more insight into how the attack happened so that other companies can prevent crypto exchange hacks from happening in the future.

The post Another Crypto Exchange Hack Hits South Korea appeared first on Startup Radar.

Bithumb Coin

Bithumb Coin could be used to lower transaction fees for users.  The company could use the money raised by the ICO to help with the operational costs at Bithumb.  This is all speculation.  No one really knows how these tokens will be used.  What we do know is that there will not be a public ICO.  Instead Bithumb will have a private sale focusing institutional investors and large investment firms.  Therefore those investors that would like to invest in Bithumb Coin would need to partner up with one of these big investment firms or institutional investors.

ICOs Coming Back to Korea?

Recently the South Korean Financial Services Commission (FSC) stated that they might bring back ICOs to Korea if the tax policies get worked out by then.  However, big companies like Kakao are looking to countries like Switzerland to do their ICOs.  As more and more big companies leave Korea to start their ICOs the pressure will be on the Korean government to counter this trend.

The rumor is that ICOs will be coming back to Korea soon.  However, no one really knows how soon.  Is it possible Bithumb is looking to do an ICO in Korea once the bans are lifted?  Do they know something we don’t know?  This could be a BIG clue that ICOs will be back in Korea before the end of the year.

The post Bithumb Coin to Launch by the end of 2018 appeared first on Startup Radar.

Koreans are more interested in cryptocurrencies than any other country.  This is in spite of the Korean government banning ICOs in Korea as well as regulating cryptocurrency exchanges in Korea.  Many Koreans are even banking on cryptocurrencies as their retirement funds!  Daily trading of cryptocurrencies is very high in Korea so it is good to know which are the best cryptocurrency exchange sites in Korea.  We at Startup Radar have assembled a list of the top 10 cryptocurrency exchanges in Korea.  We looked into many factors, such as the number of users, security features, customer satisfaction, and payment options.  If you are a beginning trader living in Korea, you will definitely find this article helpful.

10)  Youbit

Youbit has made headlines for getting hacked.  They are previously operated by Yapizon.  During that time they were hacked for over 3,000 bitcoins.  Many suspected that North Korea was behind the hacking of the Bitcoins.  Therefore, after that Youbit went offline but this year they re-emerged.  Many thought after they filed for bankruptcy over al this controversy, that this would be the end of Youbit.    However, they are back under new management called Coinbin.

9)  Coinlink

Coinlink is a Korean cryptocurrency exchange company that is listed on Kosdaq.  Therefore, Coinlink is Korea’s first bitcoin exchange run by a Kosdaq-listed company called Accupix.  Accupix’s main business is selling coal but they also construct railway communication systems.

Coinlink will be operated by Fourth Link.  Because Coinlink will be the first cryptocurrency exchange operated by a Kosdaq-registered company, it will have a secure system and reliability.  Fourth Link is looking to build a global network of cryptocurrency exchanges.  The first step will be signing a partnership with Glosfar, which is a Korean company that offers bitcoin transfer services.  In addition, they are also looking to form alliances with partners in China, Japan, U.S., Philippines, Indonesia, and South Africa.

8)  Zeniex

Zeniex opened in February of 2018.  They were created by Korean and Chinese finance and security experts.  Currently, the platform can only buy and sell cryptocurrencies because many major Korean banks are holding off on confirming bank accounts for cryptocurrency trading.  Furthermore, many Korean banks have been refusing to issue real-name accounts citing uncertainties and security concerns regarding cryptocurrencies.

7)  GOPAX

GOPAX stands for Global Online Professional Assets Exchange.  This is a very new exchange.  It was opened by a blockchain company called Streami in late 2017.  Streami is partnered with Korean bank Shinhan.  On GOPAX users can trade the day they register.  It is very easy to register and the exchange platform is very easy to use.  In addition, everything is on a single page and there are no transaction fees.  Most of their trading comes from Bitcoin and Stellar.

While they are a very new exchange there is a lot of buzz around GOPAX.  They have been aggressive in their efforts to increase their users.  Furthermore, they have done many promotional events where they gave away free coins.  They are now trading Ripple!  The drawback to GOPAX and the reason it is 8 on our list is that the site is too focused on the local Korean market.  Therefore, this exchange is for Koreans and you won’t find many English comments or feedback.

6)  Coinnest

Coinnest made headlines for being the first cryptocurrency exchange company to have their employees arrested by the Korean government.  The exchange has over 500,000 members and has the vastest selection of cryptocurrencies.  They offer the Pundi X Pass card which users can top up cryptocurrencies through the mobile app or through Pundi X POS devices.  This will allow people with no access to cryptocurrencies to conduct transactions.

The purpose of the Pundi X Pass and the Pundi POS is to bring cryptocurrencies to the mainstream.  In addition, their public token sale in January sold out in just 90 minutes.  Coinnest’s most traded crypto is Tron which makes up over 50% of its daily volume.

5)  Coinplug

Coinplug is known for their okBitcard service.  This service allows Koreans to buy Bitcoin vouchers at any 7-11 or Mini Stop across Korea.  Therefore, this is a very quick and easy way to buy small amounts of bitcoin.  All you need is your phone number.  You can also purchase bitcoin using your credit card.  They have over 7,000 ATMs in Korea.

Coinplug has made all this possible because of their partnership with Nautilus Hyosung which is Korea’s largest ATM hardware producer.  The goal was to make acquiring Bitcoin easy to the general public.  Coinplug is looking to expand to other countries by the end of 2018.

4)  Korbit

Korbit was the first cryptocurrency exchange in South Korea.  It is our #4 cryptocurrency exchanges in Korea.  The exchange had a solid reputation of being foreigner friendly.  Furthermore, it holds a 6% market share in Korea.  They have very low fees, great security features, and offers a remittance service.  This year Korbit has banned non-Korean citizens from depositing local currency into Korbit.  Therefore, this resulted in Korbit losing a lot of foreign customers.

Korbit has been leading the way in following the regulations set by the Korean government.  In addition, they have taken steps in requiring cryptocurrency exchange users to connect to their bank account for identification purposes.

3)  Coinone

Coinone focuses mainly on Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Ethereum Classic.  They hold 8% market share in Korea.  In addition, they have gone from a 20 employee company in early 2017 to over 100 employees today.  They have over 600,000 users and does over 20 billion won in monthly revenue.  Furthermore, Coinone has been at the forefront in encouraging healthy trading practices through education.  They have issued statements on the technological aspects of each coin they list.

Coinone made headlines this year for being raided by regulators who wanted to check their ledger.  However, this has not slowed down Coinone.  They are looking to become a global fintech company that does exchange remittance, investment consultation, and insurance services.  They are currently looking to form joint ventures with Southeast Asian crypto exchanges.

2)  Bithumb

Bithumb has quickly become one of the most dominant cryptocurrency markets in Korea.  They continue to add cryptocurrencies such as Litecoin, Bitcoin Dash, and Ethereum.  All these can be exchanged for Korean Won.  They hold 33% of the market share in Korea and have a daily trading volume of over 250 billion Won.  They are all about the promotion of using digital currencies for everyday life.  Therefore they recently showcased their new kiosks that accept Bitcoin Cash.

In 2018 Bithumb partnered with Korea Pay’s Services to reach Korean brands to try payments in cryptocurrencies.  Furthermore, their focus moving forward is on launching three services for the kiosk venture.  In addition, Touchpad, Touchbone, and Bithumb Cache, all focus on making it easier for customers to use digital currencies.

1) Upbit

The Kakao-backed cryptocurrency exchange comes in at #1 in our rankings.  last year they received close to 200 billion won in commission sales last year.  They hold 53% market share in Korea and has a 24-hour trading volume of 1.3 Trillion Won.  It is operated by Dunamu Inc. which also owns Korea’s top messenger app Kakao Talk.  Upbit is integrated with Kakao Talk and has over 120 cryptocurrencies because of their partnership with Bittrex.

Upbit has plans to launch a new global cryptocurrency index called UBCI (Upbit Crypto Index).  This will set the standard for future coins and make it easier for investors and the public to understand the market trends.  Look for UBCI to play an important role in Korea, especially for future ICO startups in Korea.

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