South Korean cryptocurrency exchange Bithumb has published a three-stage roadmap targeting a public stock market listing in 2028, the company announced to customers on Monday.

The roadmap outlines spending 2026 on upgrading internal controls and preparing the transition from Korea's K-GAAP accounting standard to the global K-IFRS framework — the accounting basis already required of companies listed on the Korea Exchange — followed by a preliminary listing review in 2027 ahead of the planned IPO. If completed, a Bithumb listing would mark one of the first public-market debuts by a major South Korean crypto exchange. Bithumb competes with Dunamu-operated Upbit for dominance in South Korea's domestic cryptocurrency market, one of the world's largest retail crypto trading markets by volume. The exchange published the roadmap in an official notice to its users.

Trust-Centered Overhaul

Bithumb's notice is framed almost entirely around rebuilding trust. The exchange says it is reconstructing its risk management systems to meet the standards required of regulated financial institutions, strengthening compliance monitoring to institutional-finance levels, and committing to regular disclosure of both its finances and its own cryptocurrency holdings.

The compliance upgrades take on added significance under South Korea's Virtual Asset User Protection Act, which took effect in July 2024 and holds exchanges liable for losses caused by negligence or unfair trading practices. The company has separated its Bithumb Asset subsidiary to delineate business lines and, it says, eliminate potential conflicts of interest. It has also engaged domestic and overseas underwriters, law firms, and accountants to support the listing process.

Mounting Legal and Regulatory Challenges

The IPO roadmap arrives amid a series of legal and regulatory hurdles for the exchange.

In February, a display error credited thousands of Bithumb users with Bitcoin they did not own. Lawmakers criticized regulators over the handling of the incident, investigators examined the compensation arrangements, and the exchange went to court to recover coins from users who refused to return them.

In March, financial regulators fined the exchange $24.5 million and ordered a six-month partial business suspension over anti-money-laundering and know-your-customer compliance failures. A court blocked the order in April after Bithumb challenged it.

Chief Executive Lee Jae-won was subsequently booked as a bribery suspect in connection with the alleged hiring of a National Assembly member's son. Police searched Bithumb's headquarters in both February and June as part of the investigation.

None of these matters appear in Monday's customer notice, which instead lists Bithumb's commitments as transparent governance, stronger internal controls, enhanced investor protection, sustainable growth, and a management system built to global standards.

The company cautioned that the proposed timetable could shift depending on market conditions and the pace of the regulatory review process required to complete the listing.