With about a month left in Bithumb CEO Lee Jae-won's term, opinions inside the company are said to be split between those who say Lee should step down to take responsibility for the erroneous bitcoin payouts and those who say Lee should remain to help manage the fallout.
According to the virtual asset industry on the 13th, Lee's term ends at the end of March. Lee served as chief operating officer (COO) at Itemmania in 2007 and is considered a close aide to Bithumb founder and former chair Lee Jeong-hoon, who was then the chief executive officer (CEO). After joining Bithumb in 2017 as an adviser to the management advisory office, Lee has served as CEO since 2022.
For Bithumb to appoint a CEO, shareholders must first elect directors at a general meeting, and the newly formed board must then choose a CEO from among the directors. Bithumb's board has six members, including Lee. Of them, the directors whose terms expire at the same time as Lee's are Hwang Seung-uk, deputy head of the exchange business division, and auditor Lee Byung-ho, a former head of Bithumb's strategy and planning office. The director term of Bithumb Vice President Lee Jeong-a, considered a founding member of Bithumb, runs until March next year.
The new board to be formed through the shareholders meeting is likely to be aligned with the former chair. That is because the former chair's control has solidified after Vidente, which had been at odds with the former chair, stepped down as the largest shareholder of Bithumb Holdings. There are currently two Vidente-affiliated directors, whose terms end in March next year.
Bithumb's largest shareholder is Bithumb Holdings, which owns 73.5% equity. The largest shareholder of Bithumb Holdings is DAA, with 34.2% equity. DAA became the largest shareholder after purchasing 4.22 million common shares of Bithumb Holdings from Vidente in June last year. Vidente's equity stake, previously the largest, decreased from 34.22% to 30%.
The former chair holds 16.73% equity in DAA and is the beneficial owner of a Singapore entity that holds 48.53% equity in DAA. Bithumb's governance structure is the former chair → Singapore entity → DAA → Bithumb Holdings → Bithumb.
Appearing before the National Policy Committee on the 11th, Lee said, "We keenly recognize our shortcomings in internal controls to detect and respond to the increase in ledger numbers while coins were erroneously paid," adding, "As the person with ultimate responsibility for the incident, I apologize."