Bithumb, one of South Korea’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges, has announced a new initiative to bring crypto payments into everyday retail settings. Through a partnership with Korea Pay’s Service, a company focused on digital payment infrastructure and mobile gift certificate services, Bithumb said it is expanding its offline cryptocurrency payment offering to more than 6,000 physical stores across the country.
The move reflects a broader strategy to push digital assets beyond trading and into real-world consumer payments. According to the details cited in the report, shoppers will be able to buy products at stores operated by brands such as Cafe DropTop, Yankee Candle, and Sulbing, a widely known dessert chain in South Korea. Bithumb said the payment process will rely on barcodes generated within mobile applications, enabling users to pay at cafes, restaurants, and other retail locations using the cryptocurrencies they hold on the exchange.
Building a Larger Retail Payment Footprint
The partnership is significant because Korea Pay’s Service already has established relationships across a broad merchant network. The company was described as the first domestic business in South Korea to provide mobile gift certificates and related solutions through more than 400 domestic channels, including major consumer brands and platforms such as Starbucks, Outback, and Kakao Talk. Bithumb also noted that the payments company has more than 200 franchise partners, giving the exchange a ready-made channel to scale crypto use in offline commerce.
For Bithumb, the service is positioned as more than a pilot. The exchange said it plans to launch the offering in the first half of the year and expand the number of participating stores to 8,000 by year-end. That target suggests the company sees offline crypto spending as a meaningful growth avenue, especially as competition among South Korean exchanges intensifies.
Bithumb framed the initiative within a broader international trend, pointing to more advanced virtual currency markets such as the United States, Japan, and Switzerland, where cryptocurrency payment services had already gained traction. The exchange added that it intends to keep broadening the service through cooperation with additional partners.
From Exchange Utility to Everyday Spending
The announcement highlights a long-running challenge in the crypto industry: turning digital assets into practical tools for day-to-day transactions. While trading activity often dominates public attention, many exchanges have spent years looking for ways to make cryptocurrencies more useful in ordinary commerce. Bithumb’s approach appears designed to close that gap by embedding crypto directly into familiar payment flows at consumer-facing stores.
By using barcodes generated through a mobile app, the system seeks to simplify checkout at brick-and-mortar locations. This is an important detail because user experience often determines whether crypto payments can compete with established payment rails. Rather than requiring merchants to adopt specialized blockchain infrastructure at the point of sale, a barcode-based system can offer a more accessible bridge between exchange-held balances and offline purchasing.
The range of supported locations also matters. Instead of focusing solely on niche crypto-friendly merchants, Bithumb is tying its payment service to mainstream retail and food-and-beverage venues. That could help normalize crypto spending for everyday users, provided the payment experience is seamless and accepted widely enough to matter.
Offline Support Expansion Signals Broader Strategy
Alongside the payments push, Bithumb has also been expanding its offline customer support operations. The exchange recently announced that it had enlarged its customer service center in Gangnam, Seoul, in response to rising visitor demand. Following the expansion, the number of consultation counters reportedly doubled from four to eight.
The company said the upgraded center supports multiple languages, including English, Japanese, and Chinese, and also includes a dedicated VIP consultation lounge. In addition, Bithumb has established separate help counters for issues related to voice phishing and hacking, signaling an effort to address security concerns more directly through in-person channels.
Bithumb stated that it already operates some of the industry’s largest customer centers in major cities nationwide. Its walk-in service locations include Gangnam, Gwanghwamun, Busan Centum City, and Daejeon. According to the exchange, these centers receive an average of more than 100 visitors per day across the country.
This offline investment is notable because it suggests Bithumb is not treating physical-world expansion as a narrow payments experiment. Instead, the company appears to be building a more comprehensive ecosystem that combines retail payments, customer education, security support, and in-person service. In a market where trust and usability remain major issues, physical service infrastructure may help exchanges differentiate themselves.
Additional Partnerships Beyond Retail Stores
The retail payments rollout is not the only example of Bithumb trying to extend crypto utility into consumer services. The exchange has also disclosed discussions with Wemakeprice, a major online shopping platform in South Korea, although the report noted that Wemakeprice had not publicly commented on the potential partnership at the time.
In addition, Bithumb partnered with Innovation Corp, which operates a Korean travel platform covering more than 50,000 hotels and accommodation facilities. Through that arrangement, customers can pay for travel-related bookings using cryptocurrencies held in their Bithumb accounts. The exchange is also preparing crypto kiosks for restaurants and cafes that would support both food ordering and digital asset payments.
Taken together, these efforts point to a strategy centered on broadening where and how customers can use their exchange balances. Rather than limiting crypto to speculative markets, Bithumb is trying to connect its platform with shopping, dining, hospitality, and customer service touchpoints.
Market Context in South Korea
At the time referenced in the report, Bithumb ranked as South Korea’s second-largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading activity, with a 24-hour trading volume of $507 million. Upbit, backed by Kakao, was identified as the country’s largest exchange during the same period, with a 24-hour volume of $910 million, based on CoinMarketCap data cited in the article.
That competitive backdrop helps explain why expanding beyond core exchange services may be strategically important. In a market where trading volumes can be volatile and user loyalty is hard-won, practical payment services and visible offline support may help deepen customer engagement and strengthen brand positioning.
Whether Bithumb’s latest move will materially accelerate crypto adoption in physical retail remains to be seen. Success will depend on merchant participation, ease of use, customer trust, and the broader regulatory environment. Even so, the initiative stands out as a concrete attempt to bring crypto into daily commercial life at scale, rather than treating it solely as a trading asset.
If the rollout proceeds as planned, Bithumb’s network of thousands of stores, combined with its offline customer centers and adjacent partnerships in e-commerce and travel, could mark a meaningful step in South Korea’s evolving crypto payments landscape.