The South Korean internet giant Naver has begun talks to acquire a stake in the cryptocurrency exchange Bithumb. Maeil Business Newspaper reports, citing several unnamed sources.<\/p>\n
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Naver Corporation \u2014 operator of the country\u2019s popular internet portal and messaging app Line. According to sources from the publication, the company plans to integrate Bitcoin as a payment method into its payment services Naver Pay and Line Pay.<\/p>\n
Media reports say that on March 21 the main shareholder of the trading platform Vidente discussed a potential deal with Naver. Representatives of the internet company did not respond to ForkLog\u2019s request.<\/p>\n
The Korean edition noted that at least ten firms are bidding for a stake in Bithumb. Earlier, one of the largest American banks Morgan Stanley<\/a> was among the potential buyers, along with Deutsche Bank, JPMorgan, Visa, a subsidiary of the CME Group, Binance, Naver and several other unnamed companies, according to the press.<\/p>\n In September 2020, Seoul police conducted a series of searches<\/a> at Bithumb\u2019s offices and seized part of the shares<\/a> of Bithumb Holdings, owned by the director of Bithumb Korea, Kim Ben-Ge-nu.<\/p>\n In the same month, the exchange\u2019s CEO Lee Jong-hoon was summoned for questioning<\/a> in a case involving fraud related to the native Bithumb token BXA. In light of news about Bithumb\u2019s problems with authorities, media reported that the company was put up for sale again<\/a>.<\/p>\n In November 2020, the possibility of acquiring Bithumb allegedly was explored<\/a> by cryptocurrency exchange Huobi.<\/p>\n In January 2021, journalists named the likely buyer<\/a> of Bithumb as the gaming group Nexon. Representatives of the latter denied the reports<\/a> of a potential 500 billion won deal.<\/p>\n