Kiwoom's Bithumb shopping spree has South Korea's TradFi cos lining up at the crypto buffet 🍱

Kiwoom Securities is in talks to acquire a stake in Bithumb through a third-party allotment of new shares, Chosun Biz reported on Monday. The move would make Kiwoom the latest South Korean brokerage to push into digital assets as the country's Financial Services Commission prepares a new regulatory framework for tokenized securities. Cointelegraph contacted Kiwoom Securities and Bithumb for comment on the reported talks.

Bithumb ranks among South Korea's largest crypto exchanges by daily trading volume, according to CoinGecko data. The reported Kiwoom transaction would add to a string of recent TradFi moves into Korean crypto operators. On May 29, Korea Investment & Securities and OKX Ventures agreed to invest a combined 160 billion won ($106 million) for a 19.6% stake in Coinone. A day earlier, on May 28, Samsung Securities, Samsung SDS and Samsung Card acquired a combined 4% stake in Dunamu, operator of Upbit, for 612.8 billion won ($408 million).

Other Korean financial groups have also moved on exchange stakes. On May 15, Hana Financial Group said it would acquire a 6.55% stake in Dunamu from Kakao Investment for more than $668 million, becoming Upbit's fourth-largest shareholder. In February, Mirae Asset Consulting agreed to acquire a 92.06% stake in Korbit for 133.48 billion won (about $93 million), taking majority control of the exchange as part of its digital asset push.

The brokerage rush comes as the FSC prepares regulatory reforms in July, including the country's first tokenized securities framework under the amended Capital Markets Act and Electronic Securities Act. The framework is scheduled to take full effect on Feb. 4, 2027. On Wednesday, the FSC folded token securities infrastructure into a broader overhaul of South Korea's capital markets, aiming to bring blockchain-based investment products closer to mainstream securities settlement and trading systems.