OKX and Korea Investment & Securities each buy 19.6% of Coinone

OKX Ventures and Korea Investment & Securities (KIS) will each invest 80 billion won ($53 million) to acquire a 19.6% stake in South Korean crypto exchange Coinone, subject to completion of the transactions and regulatory approvals. The investments require clearance from South Korean authorities before they can close.

The capital will be provided through a mix of secondary share purchases from Coinone CEO Cha Myung-hun and Com2uS, and subscriptions for newly issued shares. Once the deals are completed, OKX Ventures and KIS will jointly hold the third-largest share position in Coinone, after Cha, who holds 27.8%, and Com2uS Holdings and its affiliate, which together hold about 25%.

OKX described South Korea as “one of the world's most sophisticated digital asset markets” and framed the purchase as part of its plan to build compliant infrastructure in the country. The firms said they will exchange expertise on user protection, security and risk management as part of the partnership.

Korea Investment & Securities plans to work with Coinone on projects involving security tokens and stablecoins, citing recent regulatory developments in South Korea. Neither firm provided a timeline or detailed commercial terms for those collaborations.

The transaction is among a series of large investments by global and domestic firms in South Korea’s crypto sector, including foreign exchanges acquiring local platforms, major corporate investments in exchanges, and announced purchases of stakes in local operators. Several Korean banks and financial groups have also run pilot projects for tokenized deposits and blockchain-based payments with networks such as Solana and Avalanche.

South Korean regulators are drafting a Digital Asset Basic Act intended to clarify rules for virtual asset service providers and tokenized products, but enactment has been delayed and some licensing questions remain unsettled. Coinone did not provide a timeline for completing the transactions. The deal structure will return liquidity to some existing shareholders while bringing strategic institutional investors onto Coinone’s shareholder register.