Bithumb Wants User-Created DEXs With Its New Blockchain Ecosystem

South Korean crypto startup Bithumb is launching an "Exchange-as-a-service" platform based on its new blockchain.

Announced Wednesday, the exchange said Bithumb Chain will allow users and developers to build decentralized finance applications on the open source blockchain network, which it hopes will act as the backbone to a new financial ecosystem.

Javier Sim, co-founder and managing director of Bithumb Global, told CoinDesk that the new blockchain will feature a "Revolutionary consensus model," referring to what the press release described as an OBFT hybrid consensus mechanism.

Bithumb representatives further told CoinDesk that the company is pursuing a patent around the mechanism, though the plan is to fully open-source the code prior to 2020.

VRF is a system where a function verifies its own output publicly, while BFT refers to the Byzantine generals' problem, in which one must reach consensus among disparate actors operating in a trustless environment.

With Bithumb Chain, the company seeks to capitalize on their as-of-yet-unknown protocols with a variety of services, including exchange-as-a-service, which would allow users to set up their own decentralized exchange.

Bithumb Chain could compete with other crypto exchanges' custom chains, Sim said.

Binance Chain, Binance's own public blockchain, launched in April 2019, and is now home to its BNB token and Binance DEX, a decentralized exchange.

Bithumb's news comes days after The Korea Times reported that entertainment group IOK is moving to acquire a major stake in the exchange.

IOK is looking to convert a bond in Bithumb's largest shareholder, Vidante, by next year.