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The current crypto market downturn sent the prices of Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), and other coins tumbling down from their all-time highs last year. However, it also set the stage for cash-rich firms to embark on an acquisition spree as they hunt for embattled crypto firms currently selling at a fraction of their former prices.
For instance, Sam Bankman-Fried’s FTX has been busy closing deals to acquire a stake in various troubled crypto firms amidst the downturn of the cryptocurrency market. Its latest target appears to be Bithumb, a crypto exchange in South Korea.
On Tuesday, Seoul-based Vidente revealed that it is in talks with FTX for a possible sale of its stake in Bithumb, CNBC reported. The company added that it is reviewing options, including selling all its stake in Bithumb to FTX or jointly managing the South Korean crypto exchange with Sam Bankman-Fried’s firm.
At the moment, Vidente has not yet decided on a specific course of action. Based on a regulatory filing, Vidente owns 34.2 percent of Bithumb Holdings and 10.22 percent of Bithumb Korea as of March 31, Bloomberg reported.
Bithumb was founded in 2015 and is known as one of the “big four” crypto exchanges in South Korea. The platform processes an average of around $569 million worth of trades daily.
Last month, FTX has signed a deal that gave it the option to buy crypto the lending company BlockFi at a maximum price of $240 million. While the company did not give a minimum deal price, the maximum price is way below BlockFi’s previous valuation of $4.8 billion.
Crypto billionaire and FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried has become some sort of a lender of last resort in the crypto space as more crypto firms are struggling during the current market downturn. Aside from FTX’s deal with BlockFi, Bankman-Fried also provided a $500 million loan to Voyager through his company Alameda Research.
