Bithumb transforms its defunct subsidiary Bithumb Meta into investment firm Bithumb Partners in preparation for IPO

South Korean crypto exchange Bithumb will transform its defunct subsidiary Bithumb Meta into Bithumb Partners and change its main business to investment, similar to the investment institution Bithumb tried to establish when it sought a spin-off last year. Industry insiders revealed that Bithumb carried out this name change in the fourth quarter of last year and increased its capital to 30 billion won. In the past, Bithumb Meta was established with capital of 29 billion won, and the new capital invested this time is 1 billion won. Bithumb owns 100% of the shares. Affiliates LGCNS, CJ Olive Networks and SK Square, which invested about 10 billion won in Bithumb Meta three years ago, liquidated their shares late last year. During this period, Bithumb Meta has been engaged in NFT, Metaverse and other businesses, but failed to produce significant results and lost most of its investment. Bithumb Partners will be mainly responsible for using Bithumb’s own funds to make short-term debt investments such as stocks and bonds to distinguish it from Bithumb Investment, a subsidiary that is mainly responsible for investing in external companies. Industry insiders pointed out: "When Bithumb officially implemented its personnel reorganization, it proposed a surviving legal person system centered on the exchange and a new investment legal person system, so the establishment of the investment subsidiary seems to be related to this. Given that Bithumb has publicly announced this year An IPO will be held, and the market is highly concerned about how it will proceed with its establishment of subsidiaries and other initiatives.” (BizWatch)