According to The Korea Times report published on January 13, Bithumb will change its deposit and withdrawal service provider bank from NH NongHyup Bank to KB Kookmin Bank starting March 2025.

South Korea’s Financial Intelligence Unit, the country’s financial supervisory authority, has just approved the exchange’s bank change application. According to the report, Bithumb’s partnership with NongHyup will end on March 23. According to South Korean law, crypto exchanges are allowed to have only one partner bank for Korean won transactions.

Therefore, investors who want to trade virtual assets on Bithumb will have to open a Kookmin Bank account in their real name and link this account with their Bithumb account.

As of March 24 at 11:00 KST, NongHyup Bank will no longer be available for transactions on Bithumb. On the other hand, users will be able to start linking their Kookmin Bank accounts on the same day, January 20, starting at 09:00 KST.

More details on how to do this will be provided by Bithumb official in a separate announcement.

Bithumb CEO Lee Jae-won thanked NongHyup Bank for their long-standing partnership with Bithumb and stated that the exchange will add corporate accounts with Kookmin Bank to ensure users have a smooth transition process.

“Going forward, both companies will do their best to ensure the healthy and stable growth of the virtual asset market,” Lee said.

Bithumb’s decision to switch from NongHyup Bank to Kookmin Bank appears to stem from the crypto exchange’s desire to expand its market reach, particularly to reach younger users.

According to an annual survey result, Kookmin Bank is ranked as the second most popular bank among Korean individuals in their 20s, trailing only KakaoBank, which is based on social messaging app KakaoTalk.

Last September, Kookmin launched the “So Young” debit card program, which offers special discounts for businesses that appeal to young people.

Additionally, it is one of the four largest banks in South Korea, along with Kookmin Bank, Shinhan Bank, Hana Bank and Woori Bank. Currently, the only other crypto exchange that has a partnership with a major bank in Korea is Korbit, which has an agreement with Shinhan Bank.