Top 3 South Korean Crypto Exchanges Expand Overseas

Three of South Korea’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges are expanding overseas. Upbit has launched a Singaporean crypto exchange with 156 coins and 221 trading pairs. Coinone has established a crypto exchange in Malta while Bithumb is planning to launch a security token platform in the U.S.

Also read: Yahoo! Japan Confirms Entrance Into the Crypto Space

Bithumb to Launch US Security Token Platform

One of South Korea’s largest crypto exchanges by trading volume, Bithumb, announced its partnership with U.S. fintech company Seriesone on Oct. 31.

Under the agreement, “Bithumb is investing in a Seriesone entity in South Korea to scale technical development and marketing,” Seriesone detailed, elaborating:

Bithumb and Seriesone will form a joint venture intended to create a new exchange in the United States that will offer a compliant marketplace to trade security tokens, subject to receipt of SEC, FINRA and other applicable regulatory approvals.

Bithumb was recently acquired by Singapore-based Bk Global Consortium led by a plastic surgeon. The group inked a deal with BTC Korea Holdings, Bithumb’s largest shareholder at the time with 75.99 percent interest, to buy a controlling stake in the exchange.

Seriesone recently appointed Kaine Kim, former deputy director of South Korea’s Financial Services Commission, as managing director of its South Korean operation and head of Asian operations.

Upbit Singapore Now Live

Another major crypto exchange in South Korea, the Kakao-backed Upbit, announced the official launch of its Singaporean exchange on Oct. 30. The new exchange is headed by Alex Kim, who previously served as the head of Kakao Indonesia, according to the Investor publication.

Upbit, operated by Dunamu Inc., is a partner of U.S.-based exchange Bittrex. Dunamu CEO Lee Sir-goo said in September that Upbit will continue to strengthen its partnership with Bittrex as it makes a foray into global markets. Noting that Upbit Singapore will initially support only one fiat currency, the Singapore dollar (SGD), he described:

In the future, we would like to add other fiat currencies and expand in other Southeast Asian countries.

With 156 coins and 221 trading pairs listed currently, Upbit Singapore supports trading in the SGD, BTC, ETH, and USDT markets. “Any user who cleared identity verification” can use the exchange, Upbit Singapore clarified.

For the grand opening, all new users are offered zero-percent trading fees until Nov. 28 on the SGD market. Zero-percent trading fees are also offered until Dec. 28 on the same market to existing users who signed up and cleared real-name identity verification by Oct. 29.

Coinone Launches CGEX

Coinone officially launched its crypto-only exchange CGEX on Oct. 29. “CGEX is not a legal currency but a crypto-based (C2C, crypto-to-crypto) cryptocurrency exchange” with the same trading pairs as the Coinone BTC market, the exchange described. Deposits and withdrawals began on Oct. 29 while trading began on Oct. 30. The exchange is established in Malta and is offering zero-percent commission on makers in the first month of opening.

Coinone wrote:

The new global crypto-crypto exchange will share its order book with Coinone’s new BTC market … CGEX provides stable liquidity to investors by integrating with Coinone Korea, Indonesia, and others under the Coinone brand.

What do you think of the three Korean exchanges launching operations overseas? Let us know in the comments section below.

Images courtesy of Shutterstock, Bithumb, Upbit, and Coinone.

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