South Korea’s Bithumb May Re-appoint CEO as Exchange Edges Toward IPO
South Korea’s Bithumb crypto exchange may re-appoint its CEO Lee Jae-won, as the trading platform seeks to complete its planned IPO.
Per Business Post, Lee’s two-year term as Bithumb boss expires later this month. But industry figures believe he will be reappointed as the firm tries to fast-track its public offering plans.
Bithumb wants to become the first crypto exchange to go public on the Korea Exchange.
The firm has reportedly developed plans to spin off some of its operations into a separate company to speed up the process.
Lee became Bithumb CEO in May 2022 after serving as the head of the firm’s global operations.
He helmed a previous attempt to launch an IPO in 2020. But this bid was eventually shelved due to concerns about the firm’s “opaque governance structure.”
The 2020 attempt was also derailed by a prosecution service investigation into fraud charges leveled against the former Bithumb Holdings and Bithumb Korea board chairman Lee Jeong-hoon.
Lee Joeng-hoon has since been acquitted. Bithumb resurrected its IPO plans in November last year.
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