Hana Bank’s move to buy a 6.55% stake in Dunamu — the operator of South Korea’s dominant crypto exchange Upbit — has prompted a regulatory review and put the spotlight on rules that separate banks from commercial businesses.
What’s happening
- Hana Bank has agreed to buy 6.55% of Dunamu from Kakao Investment. Company filings value the deal at about 1 trillion won (roughly $668–700 million). If completed, Hana would become Dunamu’s fourth-largest shareholder and Kakao Investment’s holding would drop to 4.03%.
- The Financial Services Commission (FSC) is reviewing the transaction to determine whether it breaches South Korea’s “banking-commerce separation” rules, which limit banks’ ownership of certain non-financial business interests. Although Hana is buying the shares from Kakao Investment rather than directly from Dunamu, an FSC official said the deal is effectively the same as investing in Dunamu and will be judged by the same standard.
- Regulators have long treated crypto exchanges as a sensitive case because they are not classified the same as conventional financial firms. Since 2017, South Korean supervisory guidance has constrained financial companies from buying, holding, pledging or investing in virtual assets and related exchange stakes. The FSC official said authorities are “not directly easing” those rules now.
Context and timing
- The transaction is expected to close on June 15.
- The deal comes as Dunamu works through a planned merger with Naver Financial, which still requires regulatory review. Reuters reported last year that Naver Financial agreed to acquire Dunamu in an all-stock deal valued at 15.13 trillion won.
- Upbit is by far South Korea’s biggest crypto exchange: some reports cited by Reuters put its market share at about 70%, while later coverage estimated it handles more than 80% of the country’s virtual asset trading volume.
Broader regulatory landscape
- South Korea is also preparing new rules for tokenized securities. The FSC plans to release detailed rules in July ahead of amended laws that take effect in February 2027.
Why it matters
Hana’s stake in Dunamu highlights a growing trend of traditional finance and tech groups moving closer to crypto businesses — but it also raises thorny questions about how existing banking-commerce separation rules apply to digital-asset platforms. The FSC review could set an important precedent for how far banks can go in taking direct positions in crypto exchange operators.
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