Bithumb, one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges, is looking to go public in the US through the mechanism of reverse merger. Bithumb can become the very first crypto exchange to be traded publicly in the United States.
The holding company of Bithumb, BTHMB, which is based in Singapore, is seeking to be listed in the United States by acquiring a US company. In particular, the company is an investment firm that focuses on the blockchain and cryptocurrency industry. The company is public and is called Blockchain Industries. According to press, there is a letter of intent signed between the two parties for the upcoming merger.
Bithumb has chosen a very interesting approach to become a public company. Reverse merger means that a private company merges with a publicly-traded one and thus, skips all the regular procedures related to the IPO process. Bithumb will essentially reverse the IPO process.
According to the announcement, the deal is expected to take place somewhere in February, and be finished by March 1st, 2019. The new entity will be called Blockchain Exchange Alliance.
Bithumb is looking to expand its operations in North America and the merger will undeniably help. In addition, Blockchain Industries is looking forward to the merger, since it will be able to offer better, more advanced technology and more streamlined compliance practices.
For now, BTHMB has put $1 million in an escrow account and the processes of due diligence, valuation and formal agreement are underway.