How to Buy Bitcoin in South Korea

Bithumb is a cryptocurrency exchange from South Korea that at one point has been estimated to account for 10% of bitcoin trading on a global scale. Bithumb has suffered near-crippling hacks in June 2017, June 2018, and again on March 2019. It has also been fined for leaked customer data. Despite all of these mishaps, Bithumb has plans to expand to the American and Japanese markets. Bithumb does not have a strong security record and users are strongly recommended to explore alternative exchanges.

Not really. The exchange’s history of hacks indicates Bithumb has a complete lack of regard for its customers’ welfare.

Upbit is currently one of the largest crypto-asset exchanges in South Korea although only launching late 2017. Founded by one of South Korea’s richest men, Song Chi-Hyung and through its exclusive partnership with Bittrex, it’s no wonder why UPbit is quickly becoming the most popular exchange in Asia.

Upbit’s online wallet security is provided by BitGo, which boasts one of the best global standards in multi-signature wallets.

Korbit is the first bitcoin exchange in South Korea and has strong venture capital backing. The platform is widely accepted by its users and features both Korean and English languages and allows users to buy Bitcoins with the local fiat currency, the South Korean Won (KRW).

Korbit is considered a safe exchange in South Korea.

eToro is an innovative and versatile trading platform where you can trade stocks, ETFs, currencies, cryptocurrencies, incides, and commodities. eToro works as a social investment platform with its 'CopyTrading' feature which allows users to view, follow and copy the network's top traders automatically.

eToro offers a state-of-the-art, fully-managed cold storage Custody as a Service (CaaS) solution. eToro is a legitimate broker and trading platform and are regulated in Europe by the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission and in the UK by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). They are also registered with the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).

Within 8 months of launching in July 2017, Binance quickly skyrocketed into the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume, processing more than $1 billion on a daily basis. It’s rise to popularity can be attributed to the impressive number of cryptocurrencies they offer, professional attitude, friendly and transparent CEO, and low trading fees.

Binance is considered a safe cryptocurrency exchange. Binance provides 2-factor authentication and offers both multi signature wallets and cold storage options.

Gemini is a digital asset exchange and custodian, founded in 2014 by brothers Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, that allows customers to buy, sell, and store digital assets such as bitcoin and ether. Gemini is regulated by the New York State Department of Financial Services (NYSDFS) and also the first exchange to launch bitcoin futures contracts in December 2017.

Gemini is considered to be one of the most secure cryptocurrency exchanges on the market. Gemini is governed by the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) and complies with anti-money laundering (AML) rules. Client deposits are eligible for Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) insurance coverage and the company is also heavily capitalized to protect the digital currency you store offline

Coinmama is a leading cryptocurrency exchange that allows you to buy and sell bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies with a credit card and/or bank transfers. Since its foundation in 2013, it has grown to serve over 2 million customers across 188 countries and today has over 40 employees. Coinmama is a really simple exchange, which makes a perfect platform for safe, secure and quick transactions.

Coinmama is considered a reputable platform for bitcoin purchases.

With millions of active users, an international market, and strategic investors on board, Kraken, joins Coinbase and Binance to become the big three cryptocurrency exchanges in the global market. Kraken provides cryptocurrency to fiat trading and provides price information to Bloomberg Terminal. In February 2019, Kraken announced that it had raised $100 million in a direct offering to its largest customers at a $4 billion valuation.

Kraken is considered one of the safest bitcoin exchanges around. The platform provides cryptography-verified proof of reserve audits. These audits verify the total amount of cryptocurrency held by Kraken. The company appears to be well-capitalized and very safe to use.

Bitstamp is a well-established and respected cryptocurrency exchange that has become one of the most popular choices with cryptocurrency traders around the world. Bitstamp provides trading services to traders from all around the world and is designed for both intermediate and experienced investors. The exchange provides a user-friendly, intricate and advanced trading platform with sophisticated features.

98% of all funds on the exchange are kept in cold storage, meaning they are inaccessible to hackers. Additionally, Bitstamp insures these funds while using mandatory confirmation emails, 2FA, and SMS alerts to ensure secure accounts. On top of everything mentioned, the site also utilizes PGP to encrypt all uploaded files, keeping them private and secure

Paxful works as a peer-to-peer Bitcoin trading platform. Established in 2014, the peer-to-peer marketplace allows buyers and sellers to interact by posting trade offers. Users can choose to make purchases using PayPal, MoneyGram, Amazon/iTunes gift cards and many more payment methods.

Funds are held in escrow by Paxful until both parties confirm all components of the transaction.

LocalBitcoins works as a decentralized exchange, facilitating P2P (peer-to-peer) Bitcoin sales by allowing users to list their own buy/sell advertisements. By using the site users can create and list advertisements, communicate with prospective buyers and sellers and confirm all the transaction details before finalizing any trade. Users can either meet in person or trade online. LocalBitcoins allows for private purchases and can be used worldwide; it also allows users to make purchases via a number of different payment methods and doesn’t impose buying or selling limits.

LocalBitcoins has a strong reputation for being reliable and safe to use. Security-enhancing features like two-factor authentication (2FA), Login Guard, support staff, and a feedback-driven reputation system all contribute to the safety and security for users. Also, the fact that all online trades are protected by escrow.

Bitfinex is a cryptocurrency exchange headquartered in Hong Kong and registered in the British Virgin Islands. Bitfinex ranks among the top exchanges in terms of daily trading volumes and is one of the most well-known trading platforms albeit a troubled history of multiple hacks, loss of user funds, and other allegations.

Bitfinex has had multiple hacking incidents including, in 2015 where customers funds were hacked, losing ~$400,000, and in 2016 ~$73 million was stolen from its customers' accounts. Bitfinex claims that 99.5% of user funds are stored in an offline, multisignature wallet; requiring 4 of 7 hardware security modules (HSMs) in possession by globally-distributed management team members to approve all transactions.

OKCoin is a Chinese-based exchange that was founded in 2013 and is currently one of the more dominant platforms for Bitcoin trading. OKCoin primarily services users from China and the Asian markets but accepts traders from all over the world.

OKCoin integrates bank-level SSL security encryption. In addition, cold storage for the majority of their cryptocurrency, GSLB and distributed servers, and real-time account monitoring of deposits and withdrawals.

Changelly allows one to exchange one cryptocurrency for another and also buy using a bank card. All this is done through a convenient and clean user-interface and a quick registration via email or social media account. Changelly’s conversion mechanism is integrated into some of the biggest cryptocurrency platforms such as Poloniex, Bittrex, and Binance. There are no geographical restrictions to the service that Changelly provides, so it can be accessed from anywhere in the world.

Changelly offers two-factor authentication and an HTTPS security protocol. No user funds are stored by Changelly as all coins sent are processed to be exchanged and transferred to user wallets.