Bithumb of South Korea Setting Up in London

Bithumb is going to launch a Trading Platform in the UK, according to ZDNet Korea.

Bithumb is the biggest cryptocurrency exchange in South Korea and the sixth-biggest in the world, handling more than half a billion dollars in trading volume daily. We last reported on it when it de-listed a cryptocurrency after users discovered that some of the exchange's members of staff were suspiciously linked to it.

According to official documentation, Bithumb Europe was registered at Companies House in Cardiff on the 27th of February, with an office in City Road in Islington, London. It will be headed by a Mr. Rahul Khanna, who is a partner of a firm called Canary Asset Management.

Canaru Asset Management will own 20 percent of Bithumb Europe, and Bithumb the remaining 80 percent.

The platform will use the URL bithumb.uk. The site is not yet functional. The holdup may be the exchange's search for a compliance specialist:

Bithumb is expanding to Europe and looking for Head of Compliance and AML, Legal Counsel and Customer Service Manager to be based in London, apply here at hr@uk.bitcash.com
— Bithumb (@BithumbOfficial) May 9, 2018

Khanna first posted this advert on his Twitter page on the 12th of April.

A spokesman for BTC Korea.com, owner of Bithumb, said to ZDNet Korea (translated): "Bitsum [Bithumb] is preparing to advance to Europe."

London and cryptocurrency

London has been attracting a few cryptocurrency exchanges lately, in what could be a welcome trend given the concurrent exodus of traditional financial institutions to Europe.

Huobi, an exchange from Singapore, announced in April that it wants to set up in London because it reportedly has "the most active trading scene across all of Europe.” Huobi handles almost $2 billion in trading daily, making it the third-largest cryptocurrency exchange in the world.

Chern Chung, Huobi’s senior business development manager for Europe, said to Finance Magnates: “We envision the UK becoming a hotbed for cryptocurrency innovation, especially with the UK Finance Minister declaring his commitment to foster the growth of this sector...This news further affirms the inevitability of Huobi’s presence in London, where we see massive potential for crypto to flourish.”

Peng Hu, Vice President of the Huobi Group, added: "Absolutely London, more precisely Britain, is the entry point for the European market for us.”

In May, Japanese goliath GMO Internet Group announced the June 2018 release of a cryptocurrency trading application for the UK (Pipster), albeit via a subsidiary of a subsidiary in partnership with the subsidiary of another Japanese company.

Meanwhile, indigenous venue London Block Exchange expanded its menu to include Bitcoin Cash and Ethereum Classic as a result of the keenness exhibited by Londoners for cryptocurrency trading - in fact, a recent survey of more than a thousand of them discovered that 14 percent had purchased cryptocurrency at some point, and 20 percent of those that hadn't are considering doing so. A majority expected the industry to grow in importance and value over the next few years.

Meanwhile, an organisation formed by British cryptocurrency businesses urged the government to regulate them formally to ensure their stability and protect customers.