VP of Bithumb-Linked Company Found Dead in Seoul: Report

The Vice President of Vidente, referred to as Mr. Park, was found dead in front of his house in southern Seoul.

Vidente happens to be the largest shareholder of Bithumb Holdings Co., the firm behind the South Korean crypto exchange Bithumb.

• According to local news reports, Park was under investigation on charges of embezzlement and manipulation of stock price. The exec was also rumored to have been overseeing accounting for Kang Ji-Yeon and her brother Kang Jong-Hyun when he was serving as the Vice President of Vidente.
• For context, Ji-Yeon is the head of the kiosk supplier Inbiogen, which holds the largest share in Vidente and the duo was also under investigation.
• Suspicions surrounding the Kang siblings framing Park for the wrongdoings have also emerged following his mysterious death.
• Authorities are currently investigating several top executives of Inbiogen, a KOSDAQ-listed company.
• Vidente revealed discussing a potential sale of its stakes in Bithumb Korea and Bithumb Holdings to the now-defunct FTX earlier this summer.
• The former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried was reportedly in advanced talks to buy the South Korean crypto exchange.
• Bithumb is part of the country’s largest crypto exchange group – DAXA – which made it fitting for FTX to approach considering its plans to enter the Korean digital asset market.
• A regulatory filing shows that Vidente owns 34.2% of Bithumb Holdings and 10.22% of Bithumb Korea as of March 31.