Bitcoin has surpassed the $107,000 mark, with a 'coin boom' continuing for over a month, bringing warmth to the virtual asset market. However, Bithumb, the second-largest virtual asset exchange in South Korea, has failed to bounce back in market share despite investing hundreds of millions of won in marketing. To find a breakthrough, Bithumb is preparing to seize the new customer market of corporations ahead of others.
According to the virtual asset industry on the 17th, Bithumb has been hiring talent for corporate sales since last week. While the scale of hiring has not been determined, the Head of Team position requires more than seven years of experience, and staff must have over four years of hands-on experience in corporate sales. It is known that other domestic virtual asset exchanges, such as Upbit and Coinone, are also considering business directions in response to allowing corporate accounts, but Bithumb is the only exchange with actual plans in progress. Industry observers see Bithumb establishing a corporate sales team to systematically market to corporations in the financial sector and quickly attract customers.
Currently, the Financial Services Commission has internally established guidelines to gradually allow corporations to invest in virtual assets, following advice from the Virtual Asset Committee, a policy advisory body. Starting next year, donations received by universities, central government ministries, and local governments will be prioritized for virtual asset investment, followed by allowing investments from corporations and exchanges. While it was previously reported that corporate accounts would be allowed this month, the announcement is uncertain due to the chaotic situation of martial law and impeachment.
Many corporate accounts have already been opened at domestic virtual asset exchanges. However, to trade in Korean won on a virtual asset exchange, a real-name account linked to a bank is required. Financial authorities do not allow corporations to have real-name accounts for reasons such as maintaining financial stability, consumer protection, and preventing money laundering.
Bithumb is in urgent need of new customers. Targeting an initial public offering (IPO) in the second half of next year, Bithumb has been implementing various policies since last year, such as eliminating transaction fees and changing partner banks. Last October, it introduced a policy of 'zero transaction fees for virtual assets,' the first in the industry. Since most of the exchange's revenue comes from transaction fees, Bithumb's decision was to forgo fees while attempting to gather market share. Bithumb's general transaction fee is around 0.04%, slightly lower than the 0.05% fee of Upbit, the market leader.
The effect of Bithumb's free fee event was clear. Bithumb's market share, which had lingered in the 10% range, soared to 30% this year. The problem is that it was unable to attract new customers. Recently, amid a virtual asset boom, Bithumb's market share has fallen back to less than 20%.
Even with improved investment sentiment toward virtual assets, past and new investors generally return to Upbit, which has the highest market share, resulting in only an increase in Upbit's market share. Ultimately, Bithumb poured about 10 billion won into marketing last year and sacrificed an average daily revenue of around 1 billion won through its fee event, yet it could not fully capture Upbit's market share.
The industry observes that the participation of corporations in the virtual asset market will drive growth in the sector. Corporations have already established a virtual asset ecosystem in the United States and the European Union (EU). For example, U.S. corporations are stockpiling Bitcoin and other digital currencies as investment assets or accepting coins for product sales, starting various new businesses related to virtual assets. Notably, MicroStrategy, a U.S. corporate software company, is essentially a 'Bitcoin corporation' due to its substantial Bitcoin holdings.
Bithumb is expected to offset the market share it could not increase through free fees or various events by seizing the new market of corporations. Although Bithumb may not be able to immediately deploy the hired personnel for corporate real-name account sales, it stated that they would be responsible for related tasks once corporate investments are possible. A Bithumb official noted, 'The current hiring criteria focus on corporate sales experience, and the personnel will be responsible for attracting corporate clients, planning sales performance management, and developing sales strategies targeting corporate clients.'