The board of BTOne, which was expected to be the main factor in deciding ‘who is the winner’ in the ongoing dispute over Bithumb’s management, went to the CEO of BTOne. However, it doesn’t seem like Mr. Kim is going to have a substantial influence over Bithumb management as previously expected.
On the 28th, BTOne held a regular shareholder’s meeting and voted on the matter. Originally, it was assumed that BTOne held the key to the management of Bithumb so whoever wins the board of BTOne would have Bithumb as well. The chairman of Bithumb Mr. JeongHoon Lee and the CEO Mr. Kim have been at a war to take them all.
The top shareholder of BTOne, Bucket Studio (Mr. Kim is the CEO) was represented by MoonChang Kyu(Representative director of Bucket Studio and Vidente), InSeop Oh(Omnitel auditor), and KangHo Kim. On the other hand, the chairman was backed by YoungJoon Oh (Bithumb Korea’s communications team director), the chairman himself, and JeongAh Lee (the vice-president of Bithumb Korea). Basically Bucket Studio is supported by Vidente whereas the chairman is backed by Bithumb Holdings.
In the end, the winner was Bucket Studio. More than half of the attendees voted for Mr.Kim; and it seems like the minority shareholders’ votes ended up swinging the decision.
However, unlike what was previously expected, Mr.Kim won’t have a significant influence over the management of Bithumb, as the chairman Mr. Lee is definitely the major shareholder of Bithumb Holdings which owns 74.1% of Bithumb Korea. The representative of Bithumb Korea emphasized that “because Mr. JeongHoon Lee owns the Bithumb Holdings and it owns more than 65% of Bithumb Korea, there should be no further confrontation on that matter.”