Bithumb, South Korea’s second-largest cryptocurrency exchange, has announced a banking change. Starting March 2025, it will end its partnership with NongHyup Bank. Instead, it will team up with KB Kookmin Bank for deposits and withdrawals.
The Korea Times announced the decision on January 13 after the South Korean nation’s Financial Intelligence Unit had endorsed it. This is viewed as an effort that the Bithumb company is undertaking to shift its alliances to the new younger generation investors in the digital asset space.
Bithumb Ends NongHyup Partnership, Switches to Kookmin Bank
The cryptographic money trade’s association with NongHyup Bank will terminate on March 23, 2025. Opponents of the bill argue that South Korean cryptocurrency exchanges are, by law, allowed to have a single partner bank for converting the Korean won. Therefore, users will have to provide their real identities so that they can enter the Kookmin Bank account and link their Bithumb accounts.
Effective March 24 at 11:07:00 KST, the ongHyup Bank account will no longer be accepted for trading on the Bithumb platform. Users can start linking their new Kookmin Bank accounts from January 20, 2025, at 9:January 19 at 00 AM KST, a dominant Korean South Cryptocurrency exchange platform announced through an official statement from Bithumb. A press release later will further elaborate on how the account linkage process will work.
The Bithumb CEO acknowledged the support of NongHyup and welcomed Kookmin.While announcing the news, Bithumb CEO Lee Jae-won thanked NongHyup Bank for its cooperation and explained that the users will not experience any problems during the transition.
“As for ourselves, we are fully resolved to organize an accurate changeover and are looking forward to new opportunities for cooperation with Kookmin Bank. “Both companies shall seek to contribute positively to realizing the healthy and smooth growth of the virtual asset market,” Lee added. Additional corporate account partnerships from Kookmin Bank are also part of the cooperation to enhance operating support.
The management’s decision to change its banking partner from Woori Bank to Kookmin Bank is considered to have a lot to do with marketing to a younger generation. A survey conducted early in the year shows that Kookmin Bank is the second most favored among South Koreans in their 20s, only served by KakaoBank, which originated from KakaoTalk.
Kookmin Bank has also continued to introduce youth councils; for example, it introduced the “So Young” debit card in September 2024. They also provide rebates at companies often frequented by teenagers, helping to solidify the bank’s target demographic.
Founded in 1967 and as one of South Korea’s “Big Four” banks, namely Shinhan Bank, Hana Bank, Kookmin Bank, and Woori Bank, Kookmin Bank brings a lot of resources and reputation that Bithumb has been seeking for the bank’s potential in the future. The exchange also described that only Korbit, among the domestic crypto exchanges, has a partnership with another Big Four bank, Shinhan Bank.
This partnership will likely help Bithumb improve its South Korean cryptocurrency market position. Coveting the opportunity to expand to the neglected segment of the youth, the exchange will now establish a cooperation with a widely known and young-at-heart bank for Kookmin.
Bithumb keeps expanding its efforts to become a key player in the South Korean crypto market and build the basis for its future development in the following years.
[…] four largest banks, is particularly popular among younger adults, and its initiatives like the So Young debit card, launched in September for teenagers, demonstrate a clear commitment to this group. This makes […]