Bithumb, one of South Korea’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges, posted a 205.5 billion won ($180 million) net loss in 2018, according to a report published by The Korea Times on April 11.
The report compared the company’s financial performance to that of 2017 when Bithumb reported a net profit of $427.2 billion won ($376 million). The significant difference in earnings is due to the two market extremes of a parabolic bull run in 2017 and a drastic bear market in 2018.
Bithumb Sales are Up and Profits are Down
Though crypto market conditions were very tough in 2018, Bithumb experienced a growth in sales from that of 2017. Total sales on the exchange grew by more than 17.5% from 2017 figures due to increased overseas investments, reaching 391.7 billion won ($344 million).
However, the company’s operating profit declined by 3.4% from the year before, standing at 256.1 billion won ($225 million). As a result, Bithumb suffered cutbacks in staff and was forced to lay off about 30 employees in January 2019.
Will 2019 be Profitable for Bithumb?
While the cryptocurrency markets are off to a strong start since the beginning of the year with Bitcoin up by more than 40%, Bithumb his off to a rough start. In late March of 2019, cybercriminals were able to steal $13 million in cryptocurrency from the platform.
This hack is the second hack in the span of less than a year, where hackers stole roughly $30 million in cryptocurrency in 2018.
Therefore, Bithumb is off to a rough start but if cryptocurrency prices continue to rise and the markets experience a trend reversal, the South Korean crypto exchange may end the year in profit.
Do you think Bithumb will profit and grow in 2019 or will traders flock to better and more secure exchanges? Let us know what you think in the comment section below.
