Hana Bank to buy $670M stake in Upbit operator Dunamu as Korean banks double down on crypto
Hana Bank, a unit of Hana Financial Group, has agreed to acquire a 6.55% stake in Dunamu — the operator of South Korea’s largest crypto exchange, Upbit — for about 1 trillion won (roughly $670 million). The deal, revealed in regulatory filings and reported by Maeil Business and The Korea Herald, will see Hana buy 2.28 million shares from Kakao Investment.
Key transaction details
- Purchase price: ~1 trillion won (~$670 million)
- Stake: 6.55% of Dunamu (2.28 million shares bought from Kakao Investment)
- Board approval: unanimously approved by Hana on May 14
- Expected close: June 15
- Post-deal position: Hana Bank will become Dunamu’s fourth-largest shareholder, trailing only the company’s founders and Kakao Investment’s remaining holdings
- Hana Bank scale: roughly $42 billion in assets under management
Strategic aims and collaboration
Hana and Dunamu confirmed they will work together on multiple digital-asset initiatives, including won-pegged stablecoins, blockchain-based remittances, tokenized securities and digital-asset management products. The deal signals a broader push by established financial institutions in South Korea to build on-ramps and products tied to crypto infrastructure.
Regulatory and market backdrop
The investment comes amid a flurry of regulatory and industry moves in South Korea:
- One month earlier, the ruling Democratic Party proposed a “Digital Asset Basic Act” to create a legal framework for issuance, trading, custody and supervision of digital assets.
- The Financial Services Commission and the Financial Supervisory Service have announced new rules aimed at strengthening security at crypto exchanges.
- In April 2026, rival Woori Bank announced a partnership with MoonPay to develop stablecoin technology — underlining growing competition among traditional banks to enter the crypto space.
Where Dunamu stands
- Dunamu announced plans last year to merge with Naver Financial in a deal valued at about $10 billion (announced November 2025).
- Upbit ranks 14th worldwide on Coingecko and reports more than $1 billion in daily trading volume.
- Dunamu reportedly handled more than 80% of South Korea’s virtual asset trading volume.
- Fiscal 2025 results: revenue of 1.56 trillion won and net profit of 708.8 billion won.
Why it matters
The acquisition underscores accelerating institutional adoption of crypto infrastructure in South Korea. With regulatory moves toward clearer legal frameworks and major banks investing directly in exchange operators, the country’s crypto ecosystem looks set for deeper integration with traditional finance — from stablecoins and cross-border remittances to tokenized securities and asset management offerings.
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