Three Samsung Group affiliates have agreed to acquire a combined 4% stake in Dunamu, the Seoul-based operator of Upbit, South Korea's largest crypto exchange by trading volume, for 612.8bn won ($409mn), capping a May rush by South Korean financial heavyweights into a market long dominated by retail traders.
Samsung Takes 4% of Upbit Operator Dunamu as South Korean Institutions Move In
28 May 2026 - 08:45 CEST
By Oihyun Kim
Samsung Securities, Samsung SDS and Samsung Card said on 28 May that they will jointly purchase 1.39mn Dunamu shares from Kakao Investment, with Samsung Securities taking 2% and Samsung SDS and Samsung Card each acquiring 1%, according to regulatory disclosures.
Retail market shifts
Dunamu, founded in 2012 and led by chairman Song Chi-hyung, runs an exchange that handled around two-thirds of South Korean spot crypto trading volume last year, ranking it among the world's busiest venues by turnover. Any change in its ownership structure matters for global market makers, custodians and token issuers active in the region.
South Korea's crypto market has historically been driven by individual investors, with banks, brokerages and conglomerates largely held back by regulatory caution and the absence of a digital asset framework.
That posture is now shifting. On 15 May, Hana Financial Group's banking unit agreed to buy 2.28mn Dunamu shares from Kakao Investment for 1.003tn won ($669mn), securing a 6.55% holding and becoming the first South Korean financial holding company to take direct equity in a crypto exchange. Five days later, Hanwha Investment Securities said it would spend 597.8bn won ($399mn) to increase its existing 5.94% position by 3.9 percentage points, lifting its total stake to 9.84% and making it the third-largest shareholder.
Stablecoin push
Combined, the three deals shift close to 14% of Dunamu to established South Korean financial and industrial groups in under two weeks, with disclosed consideration above 2.2tn won.
Each buyer cited positioning for won-pegged stablecoins, tokenized securities and onchain settlement infrastructure ahead of the Digital Asset Basic Act. Hana plans to develop KRW-pegged stablecoins and blockchain remittance using Dunamu's GIWA Chain, an Ethereum layer-2 network.
Hanwha pointed to custody, settlement and institutional services. Dunamu said it will work with the Samsung affiliates on "development and distribution of blockchain-based financial investment products, building payment infrastructure, and expansion into AI using blockchain technology," according to a company statement.
Kakao exits Dunamu
Kakao Investment is exiting as Dunamu prepares an all-stock merger with Naver Financial valued at 15tn won. The cap table reshuffle cuts Kakao Investment's stake from 10.58% at the end of last year to about 0.13%, according to regulatory filings, removing a shareholder once seen as a potential obstacle to the merger.
Naver Financial and Dunamu have postponed their shareholder votes from 22 May to 18 Aug and the closing date from 30 Jun to 30 Sept, citing a longer-than-expected review of their business combination by the Fair Trade Commission.
