Bithumb adopts Kookmin Bank as new partner bank starting March 2025

Bithumb, South Korea’s second-largest crypto exchange, is choosing NongHyup Bank over Kookmin Bank as part of its efforts to break into the mainstream market.

According to a January 13 report by The Korea Times, Bithumb will change its deposit and withdrawal service provider bank from NH NongHyup Bank to KB Kookmin Bank starting in March 2025.

South Korea’s Financial Intelligence Unit, the country’s financial watchdog, recently approved the exchange’s application to switch common banks. According to the report, Bithumb’s partnership with Nonghyup will end on March 23. Under South Korean law, crypto exchanges are only allowed to have one partner bank to facilitate Korean won transactions.

As a result, investors who want to trade virtual assets on Bithumb need to open a Kookmin Bank account using their real name and link it to their Bithumb account. As of March 24 at 11:00 KST, they will no longer be able to use NongHyup Bank to make transactions on Bithumb.

On the other hand, according to a Bithumb official, users will be able to start connecting their Kookmin Bank accounts on the same day, starting from January 20 at 09:00. separate notification.

Bithumb CEO Lee Jae-won thanked NongHyup Bank for its long-standing partnership with Bithumb and assured users that the crypto exchange will ensure a smooth transition with the addition of Kookmin Bank’s corporate accounts.

“Going forward, both companies will do their best to ensure the healthy and stable growth of the virtual asset market,” Lee said.

Bithumb’s decision to change partner banks from NongHyup Bank to Kookmin Bank is believed to be driven by the crypto exchange’s desire to expand its market reach, especially towards younger users.

Kookmin Bank is ranked as the second most popular bank among South Koreans in their 20s, according to an annual survey, falling behind KakaoBank, which is based on social messaging app KakaoTalk.

Last September, Kookmin launched the “So Young” debit card program, which offers special discounts to businesses preferred by young people.

It is also one of the four largest banks in South Korea, along with Kookmin Bank, Shinhan Bank, Hana Bank and Woori Bank. At the time of this writing, Korbit was the only crypto exchange in South Korea that had a partnership with Shinhan Bank, one of the big four banks.