Ranked in 0 of 16 countries · Exchange
Bithumb Review (October 2026): Fees, Licences and Where It Works
By Vahe Hakobyan Verified No affiliate links
- Taker fee0.25%
- Maker fee0.25%
- Coins— Not verified
- CustodyCustodial
- Founded2014
- HeadquartersSeoul, South Korea
Our verdict
Bithumb is one of South Korea's largest crypto exchanges, running a KRW order book plus a BTC market. It serves verified Korean residents only. Trading costs 0.25% by default or 0.04% after opting in to a 30-day discount. It offers fixed and flexible staking and coin lending, but no futures.
Pros
- Deep KRW liquidity on a major Korean exchange
- 0.04% KRW-market rate available on request
- Fixed and flexible staking for listed coins
Cons
- Open only to verified residents of South Korea
- No user-verifiable Merkle proof of reserves
- Erroneous 620,000 BTC credit in February 2026
Where Bithumb works
| Country | Status | Rank | Local licence |
|---|---|---|---|
| USA | Not available | — | — Not verified |
How secure is Bithumb?
- Proof of reserves
- Yes - annual financial due-diligence disclosure stating customer-asset reserve ratio of 100% or more; no user-verifiable Merkle proof found
- Custody
- Custodial
Incidents since 2019
- 2026otherIn February 2026 Bithumb mistakenly credited about 620,000 BTC to 695 customer accounts during a promotion; it reversed the error within about 35 minutes and recovered 99.7% of the funds.
- 2019hackOn March 29, 2019 nearly $20 million in EOS and XRP was stolen from Bithumb hot wallets; the company blamed insiders.
Crypto held on a platform is generally not covered by deposit insurance.
What you can do on Bithumb
- Spot
- Staking
- Earn
Products can differ by country; check what the platform offers where you live.
Bithumb FAQ
What are Bithumb's trading fees?
At the base tier of its main order book Bithumb charges 0.25% maker and 0.25% taker. Volume tiers and promotions can lower this.
Does Bithumb publish proof of reserves?
Yes - annual financial due-diligence disclosure stating customer-asset reserve ratio of 100% or more; no user-verifiable Merkle proof found
Not financial advice. Crypto prices are volatile and you can lose everything you put in. World-Crypt earns nothing from the platforms reviewed here.