Bithumb registers net loss of $180 million following Bitcoin’s price drop

Bithumb, one of South Korea’s largest cryptocurrency exchange platforms, reportedly turned in a net loss of 205 billion Korean Won, approximately worth $108 million in 2018, according to KoreaTimes.

It was reported that the reason behind the loss was the fall of Bitcoin [BTC] and other cryptocurrencies throughout 2018, resulting in low trading volumes. The price of the largest cryptocurrency dropped from around $20,000 at the beginning of the year, to nearly $3000 towards the end of the year. While Bitcoin recorded a loss of over 80 percent from its all-time high, altcoins recorded a loss of over 90%.

The report said,

“Its operating profit stood at 256.1 billion won, which is a 3.4 percent fall from the year before. Sales grew by 17.5 percent to 391.7 billion won […] In terms of sales, we saw a 17 percent increase, and we continue to increase overseas investments”

The exchange also fell victim to a cryptocurrency hack in mid-2018, resulting in the loss of over $17 million. The tokens compromised in the attack last year included Bitcoin [BTC], Bitcoin Cash [BCH], Ethereum [ETH] and XRP. Further, in March 2019, reports surfaced that the exchange laid off nearly half of its employees after Bitcoin’s trading volume fell by 90%.

Additionally, the exchange was compromised by another hack this year that was considered to be an inside job. This March 30 hack reportedly resulted in a loss of over $3 million in EOS and $5 million in XRP. This was followed by the exchange halting deposit services, stating that they would be conducting an external audit of all the cryptocurrencies they held. The details of the audit were released by the exchange on 11 April 2019. The blog post stated (translated from Korean),

The exchange further said,

“This due diligence report is prepared by an external Audit after the due diligence of the financial situation as of April 8, 2019. We are pleased to inform you that our members’ valuable assets are managed and maintained in a systematic/safe manner through the attached due diligence report. We will do our best to keep our member’s valuable assets safe and transparent.”