The CEO of the Singapore-based Blockchain Exchange Alliance (BXA), which owns a controlling stake in the large South Korean crypto-exchange Bithumb, spoke about plans to enter the American and Japanese markets.
BXA CEO Kim said in an interview that the BXA strategy is to follow the so-called reverse merger route by acquiring a public company that is already listed on the Nasdaq or on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).
As Kim noted, this route could be a faster way to make the company public than the traditional initial public offering (IPO), adding that it can also help reduce listing fees, which are reported to be around $ 6 million .
According to Kim, BXA has already applied for legal advice to the United States, where the lawyer reportedly expressed the view that the current legal framework allows BXA to be added to the list using such a reverse merger structure.
The CEO also announced that BXA is currently looking for potential partners in Japan to create a joint venture for a crypto-exchange, which will be officially licensed by the country.
Then BC Kim discussed plans for a promising increase in the BXA share in Bithumb by acquiring up to 70% of the shares of the BTC-operator BTC Holdings – although he stressed that even without additional shares, BXA is already the controlling shareholder of the exchange.
Regarding BXA’s own token, the CEO noted that the potential Bithumb BXA listing would require careful consideration of regulatory obstacles and that the company would announce any further changes on this issue.
Kim's disclosure of US plans to BXA is confirmed by anonymous sources, who indicated the company's interest in a reverse merger in January of this year, as reported at that time.
Earlier this week, BXA received $ 200 million. USA from the Japanese ST Blockchain Fund with the intention to use these funds to expand the international reach of Bithumb.
Bithumb survived a turbulent period, having recently suffered losses of about $ 13 million as a result of a hack at the end of March, which, according to executives, was an insider operation to deceive the company. The exchange was asked to conduct an external audit to convince users that its funds are kept in cold storage wallets, and that the loss only affected the exchange's assets.
Prior to this, a major hack in 2018 led to a loss of about 17 million dollars . Bithumb’s net annual loss for that year was about $ 180 million .
