South Korean exchange Bithumb’s global platform comes out of beta

Bithumb Global, the global version of the popular South Korean crypto exchange, just came out of beta, according to a press release yesterday. The exchange is attempting to move outside of Korea in search of a larger audience, especially in Japan. 

Alongside other upgrades, version 1.0 gives users faster transaction speeds and an improved, simplified UI. It has removed a complicated wallet system and provided a version of the site in Japanese. Additionally, customers can also use credit cards to buy crypto. 

“Bithumb Global aims to bring together and unite all the crypto communities with a fair and transparent platform. Unity is the key here,” said Javier Sim, managing director of Bithumb Global.

And the global expansion seems to be working. Bithumb’s new exchange is already seeing daily trading volume of $488 million, not bad when compared to its original exchange which pulls in $588 million. And that’s despite having a tenth of the same user base, with Bithumb Global posting user numbers of 1 million, compared to the native exchange’s 10 million.

Clearly new users aren’t students of Bithumb’s recent history. In March 2019, it was hacked for $13 million worth of EOS, with Bithumb executives pointing the finger firmly at employees for the breach. It’s unclear if they’ve been removed from the company.  

Surely every hacked exchange deserves a second chance?