Reporters Dig Deeper into Crypto Exchange Bithumb’s Mysterious Ownership Story

One of South Korea's largest cryptocurrency exchanges, Bithumb, remains in the news as concerns over the company's ownership structure spread across the country.

The nation was shocked last month when it came to light that Kang Jong-hyun, the secretive Bithumb majority shareholder, had been covertly dating leading lady Park Min-young. Journalists also learned that Kang's associates had purchased Park's talent agency and had appointed Park's elder sister to the position of director at a publicly traded company that he also owned.

According to sources in the cryptocurrency industry, Kang is the “secret chairman” of Bithumb, and earlier this month, prosecutors looking into these claims raided three other businesses he owns. Among them is Vidente, a manufacturer of video equipment that apparently holds a 34% stake in Bithumb.

Bithumb 7-day trading volumes. (Source: CoinGecko)

But as the week begins, the exchange - and Kang in particular - might experience some rough patches. This evening, an episode on Kang will appear on MBC's “PD's Notebook,” one of the top investigative journalism-based news programs in the country, according to Newsen.

Additional discoveries were promised by the show's creators, who also released some of the investigation's findings. They claimed that Kang's younger sister, who is identified as Vidente's top shareholder, also looks to be a crucial player. The creators of the show said that at one point, Kang's sister “mobilized $16 million” to prevent him from going bankrupt.

Another company that has been raided by prosecutors this month is Inbiogen, where Kang's sister is listed as the largest shareholder and is alluded to in the media as a Bithumb “affiliate.”

Kang is listed as the CEO of InBioGen on his business card, according to earlier allegations.

More Scrutiny to Follow for Bithumb

The TV show will also look at what transpired with a $350 million offer to buy out Bithumb made in 2018 by a Singapore-based plastic surgery company. BK Consortium agreed to the terms of the agreement in 2018, but did not pay in 2019. Numerous investors lost money when Bithumb seemed to abandon its plans to market a coin developed by the same consortium.

As a National Assembly committee prepares to question local crypto sector participants over the ownership structure of Bithumb during a special session, politicians will also offer their opinions on the matter today.

To respond to questions from MPs, a number of important corporate leaders have been called in. According to Hanguk Kyungjae, they will also be questioned about how they managed the early May Terra ecological meltdown.