What to know:
- Hana Bank will buy a 6.55% stake in Dunamu, the operator of South Korea’s largest crypto exchange Upbit, for about 1 trillion won ($670 million), making it the company’s fourth-largest shareholder.
- The deal, set to close June 15, comes as South Korea advances a Digital Asset Basic Act and tighter security rules for crypto exchanges.
- Hana and Dunamu plan to jointly develop won-pegged stablecoins, blockchain-based remittances, tokenized securities and digital asset management.
Hana Bank, part of Hana Financial Group, will purchase a 6.55% stake in Dunamu – the company behind South Korea’s leading cryptocurrency exchange, Upbit – for approximately 1 trillion won (about $670 million).
According to documents released Friday and reported by Maeil Business and the Korea Herald, the bank – which manages about $42 billion in assets – is purchasing 2.28 million shares from Kakao Investment.
Hana Bank’s board fully approved the agreement on May 14th, and it’s expected to be finalized by June 15th. Once completed, Hana Bank will become one of Dunamu’s largest owners, ranking fourth behind the company’s creators and Kakao Investment.
Hana Bank’s decision to enter the cryptocurrency market comes shortly after South Korea’s ruling party suggested a new law – the “Digital Asset Basic Act” – to create clear rules for cryptocurrencies, covering everything from how they’re created and traded to how they’re stored and overseen. This also follows recent announcements from South Korea’s financial regulators, who are introducing new rules to improve security at cryptocurrency exchanges.
This investment comes before Dunamu’s expected merger with Naver Financial, a deal estimated at $10 billion that was announced in November 2025. Currently, Upbit is the 14th largest cryptocurrency exchange globally, according to Coingecko, and processes over $1 billion in trades each day.
After the merger, Hana and Dunamu announced they will work together on various projects involving digital assets. These include stablecoins linked to the Korean won, using blockchain for sending money internationally, and creating digital versions of traditional investments like stocks and bonds, as well as managing those digital assets.
In April 2026, Woori Bank, a rival financial institution, revealed plans to collaborate with MoonPay on creating comparable stablecoin technology.
In fiscal year 2025, Dunamu reported a net profit of 708.8 billion won with revenue reaching 1.56 trillion won. The company dominates virtual asset trading in South Korea, processing over 80% of all trades.
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2026-05-15 13:22