Hana Financial Group buys stake in Dunamu, operator of Upbit crypto exchange

Hana Financial Group has expanded its strategic partnership with Dunamu after acquiring a 6.55 percent stake in the digital asset company for about 1 trillion won ($667 million) through its core affiliate Hana Bank, the group said Friday. The deal makes Hana Bank the fourth-largest shareholder of Dunamu, which operates Korea’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, Upbit. The bank’s board earlier in the day approved the purchase of Dunamu’s 2.284 million shares from Kakao Investment. This marks the largest-ever investment by a Korean commercial bank in a single digital asset company. The investment comes as the global financial industry accelerates its transition toward blockchain and stablecoin infrastructure. Hana Financial described the partnership as an effort to merge traditional financial services with digital innovation capabilities in order to strengthen competitiveness in the rapidly evolving digital finance market. Dunamu has established itself as the dominant player in the country’s digital asset sector, supported by its large user base and trading activity, as well as its

Hana Bank, one of South Korea’s largest commercial lenders, has acquired a 1 trillion won ($670 million) stake in crypto exchange operator Dunamu, in the latest sign that the country’s banks are ready to embrace digital assets.

Hana Financial Group, one of South Korea's major banking groups, said Friday it has decided to buy a stake in the country's top crypto exchange operator Dunamu for 1 trillion won ($669 million), the largest-ever investment by a bank into a virtual asset operator. In a regulatory filing, Hana Financial said its flagship Hana Bank will take over a 6.55 percent stake in Dunamu, the operator of Upbit, from Kakao Investment. Hana Financial will become the fourth-largest shareholder after the stake takeover. The alliance between an established financial institution and a virtual asset operator heralds their business cooperation going beyond simple services, such as a real-name account for virtual asset transactions, to future financial services, such as stablecoin issuance. The move also comes as local crypto exchange operators have been under pressure from the financial regulator to sharply lower major shareholders' stakes in the operator as part of efforts to shore up financial soundness and their business responsibility.