Nexon founder Kim Jeong-joo, NXC, is promoting the acquisition of Bithumb

Nexon founder Kim Jung-joo, CEO of NXC, is considering the acquisition of Bithumb, a cryptocurrency exchange. According to the investment banking (IB) industry on the 7th, NXC is promoting the acquisition of Bithumb, the largest cryptocurrency exchange in Korea. Bithumb is a cryptocurrency exchange established in 2014, and the cumulative number of subscribers in the third quarter of last year reached 5 million. In the industry, NXC is expected to take over the stake with Bident, a major shareholder who owns a 10% stake in Bithumb. The amount of the acquisition is estimated to be around 500 billion won.

Chairman Kim has been interested in cryptocurrency exchanges for many years. In 2016, NXC acquired Cobit, the first cryptocurrency exchange in Korea, and holds a 62.68% stake. In 2018, it acquired Bitstamp, Europe’s largest cryptocurrency exchange. At the end of 2018, through NXC’s subsidiary NXC LLC, he invested in Tagami, a US cryptocurrency trading agency.

In February of last year, it established a financial transaction platform development subsidiary’ARQUES’. The company, which claims to be a’financial service that allows anyone to easily invest and trade assets’, is developing a platform to invest in various financial assets, including cryptocurrencies. An official familiar with Nexon said, “(Chairman Jeong-joo Kim) has been very interested in areas where global business can be done outside Korea, China, and Japan, and since a few years ago, he was interested in blockchain and virtual currency as one of those areas. I know.”

However, NXC did not neither affirm nor negate the fact of the acquisition. An official from NXC said, “There is no fact that can be officially confirmed at this time.”

Reporter Park Min-je [email protected]