Hana Bank buys $670M stake in Upbit operator Dunamu

Hana Bank will buy 2.28 million shares of Dunamu from Kakao Investments for 1.003 trillion won in a cash transaction, giving the bank a 6.55% stake in the operator of Upbit effective June 15. The purchase will make Hana the fourth-largest shareholder and will be funded using cash equal to 2.78% of the bank’s equity capital.

After the sale, Kakao Investments will hold 1.4 million Dunamu shares, representing a 4.03% stake, according to a separate filing. The share purchase price converts to roughly $669.2 million at current rates.

In its filing, Hana described the investment as intended to “secure competitiveness in the new financial landscape.” Hana Financial Group reported an annual net profit of about 4 trillion won last year. The group has expanded into digital asset services through partnerships and ventures: a Hana credit-card unit signed a USDC-related marketing agreement this year with Circle and Crypto.com, Hana has a partnership with Standard Chartered on digital asset initiatives, and it holds a 25% stake in BitGo Korea, a custody joint venture with SK Telecom.

Dunamu operates Upbit, South Korea’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume. Upbit typically accounts for more than 80% of local market trading and is ranked third on CoinMarketCap’s list of spot exchanges, recording more than $1 billion in trading volume in the past day. Dunamu is also in the process of a planned merger with Naver Financial; if completed, the deal would bring Upbit closer to one of the country’s largest technology groups.

South Korean regulators and lawmakers are developing a Digital Asset Basic Act that includes provisions on stablecoin operations. The regulatory framework under discussion could affect how banks, exchanges and other firms operate in the digital-asset sector going forward.