FTX in talks to buy South Korean crypto exchange Bithumb: Bloomberg

Amid a spate of recent deals, FTX is now talking to crypto exchange Bithumb about a potential acquisition, according to Bloomberg.

The discussions have been ongoing for several months, according to the report, which cites an unnamed source close to the deal.

Bithumb is a South Korean crypto exchange founded in 2014 that currently processes around $569 million in daily trading volume, according to CoinGecko. Since 2017, the exchange has been the subject of considerable controversy, experiencing a number of high-profile hacks resulting in the loss of millions. 

This week, the firm was among the South Korean crypto exchanges whose offices were raided by local prosecutors as part of an investigation into Terraforms Labs following the collapse of stablecoin TerraUSD in May.

News of the talks between Bithumb and FTX comes amid a surge of recent acquisitions and other deals by FTX. In June it announced that it would acquire Canadian crypto trading platform Bitvo and clearing firm Embed. It also entered deals to provide revolving credit lines to struggling crypto firms BlockFi and Voyager. FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried has committed about $1 billion so far to acquire or prop up firms impacted by the recent crypto market crash.

As reported by Bloomberg earlier this week, FTX and its US subsidiary FTX US are currently in talks to raise fresh funds, a move that will put the firm in a position to continue its recent deal spree. 

The Block reached out to FTX and Bithumb for comment but neither responded by press time.

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