Bithumb opened in 2014, three years before Upbit existed, and for a stretch of 2017 it was the busiest exchange in the world. It remains South Korea's number two by volume and its number one by breadth, with more than 470 listed coins as of August 2026, a longer list than Coinbase. In March 2025 it moved its real-name account partnership from NH NongHyup to KB Kookmin Bank, a switch aimed at younger customers, and it has been preparing a domestic IPO through a troubled 2026.
Everything about it is Korean by design. Won is the only fiat currency. A KB Kookmin account in your own name is the only way to fund it. Korean mobile phone identification is mandatory, and since 2018 Bithumb has removed foreign users who could not complete it. There is no dollar market, no card checkout, and no version of the account a U.S. resident can open, which is why so many American searches end with the word "alternative".
Anytime Capital is the alternative that will take you: an American money services business serving customers worldwide, with a storefront at 2549 Piedmont Road NE in Atlanta, an office in Miami's One Biscayne Tower, a phone line at (470) 748-2530, and nine ways to pay in dollars, including cash and same-day wire for customers who can walk in or mail it.