One of the largest American banks, Morgan Stanley, intends to acquire a stake in the South Korean cryptocurrency exchange Bithumb.
March 19, 2021 | AtoZ Markets – American bank Morgan Stanley is in talks to acquire a stake in Bithumb through Bident, according to Naver News.
Bident owns 10.3% of Bithumb Korea, the exchange operator, and up to 34.24% of Bithumb Holdings, Bithumb Korea's largest shareholder. It is not known whether Morgan Stanley plans to buy all shares from Bident.
Morgan Stanley Targets Korean Crypto Market
According to preliminary information, the American bank can invest up to $440 million in the Korean cryptocurrency exchange.
It should be noted that earlier the Korean media reported about the interest in buying the South Korean cryptocurrency exchange from other American companies. So, in early March, the Korean edition of The Korea Herald reported interest in the exchange from JPMorgan and CME Group.
It is noteworthy that reports of a potential new investor in Bithumb have been circulating for a long time. At the beginning of the year, the Korean publication Maekyung announced the plans of the Korean gaming giant Nexon to buy 65% of the shares of the crypto exchange for $460 million.
In November 2020, it was reported that another crypto exchange, Huobi, was also planning to buy bitFlyer and Bithumb. At the time, the reason for the takeover was reported as Huobi's desire to diversify its customer base, which is dominated by Chinese traders.
The news about Morgan Stanley's plans to enter the Korean crypto market came after the bank became the first financial institution in the United States to open access to the bitcoin market for wealthy clients. The bank decided to open access to the bitcoin market to clients who have assets worth at least $2 million.
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