Hana Financial Group has made a landmark bet on crypto infrastructure, announcing on May 15 that its flagship Hana Bank will buy a 6.55% stake in Dunamu — the operator of Upbit, South Korea’s dominant crypto exchange — from Kakao Investment for about 1 trillion won (roughly $670 million). Disclosed in a regulatory filing the same day the bank’s board approved the deal, the purchase is the largest single investment ever by a South Korean bank into a digital asset company.
What this means for ownership
- The acquisition will make Hana Financial the fourth-largest shareholder in Dunamu, according to the Korea Herald.
- Current ownership listed in filings: founder and Chairman Song Chi-hyung 25.51%, Vice Chairman Kim Hyoung-nyon 13.10%, Woori Technology Investment 7.2%. Kakao Investment — selling the stake — will hold roughly 4% after the transaction closes.
More than an equity play: a strategic partnership
Hana and Dunamu didn’t stop at a share purchase. They signed a memorandum of understanding to jointly build integrated services that combine traditional banking rails with digital-asset infrastructure. Their four-part roadmap includes:
1. Blockchain-based cross-border remittances — The partners have been developing a SWIFT-style international transfer system on Dunamu’s Giwa Chain since late 2025. They completed a proof of concept in February 2026 and in April signed a three-way commercial testing agreement with POSCO International.
2. Won-backed stablecoin infrastructure — Work will cover issuance, circulation and redemption mechanisms for a fiat-backed stablecoin.
3. Hybrid wealth management — A product linking Upbit’s digital-asset custody and trading to Hana’s existing fund, pension and trust platforms is planned.
4. International expansion — The duo aims to pair Hana’s global banking footprint with Dunamu’s blockchain tech to pursue overseas digital-asset ventures and service partnerships.
Hana Financial Group Chairman Ham Young-joo framed the move as strategic: the investment is meant to accelerate financial innovation in digital assets and help establish Korea’s blockchain ecosystem on a global stage (per the Korea Herald).
Context: an industry-wide reshuffle
The Hana–Dunamu deal is part of a wider push by traditional finance into regulated crypto venues in South Korea. On the same day, Yonhap reported other deals and discussions, including Mirae Asset Consulting’s roughly $96.7 million buy of a 92.06% stake in Korbit and talks involving OKX and Korea Investment & Securities to each acquire about 20% of Coinone. Together these moves signal a rapid institutional reconfiguration of who controls the country’s digital-asset infrastructure.
Why Dunamu matters
- Dunamu reported 13.17 trillion won in assets at the end of last year, with net profit of 709 billion won on 1.56 trillion won in sales (Korea Times).
- Upbit handles more than 80% of South Korea’s domestic crypto trading volume (Yonhap), making Hana’s new stake unusually consequential in the Asian digital-asset market.
A structural signal from a systemically important bank
This isn’t a pilot or a small exploratory allocation. A trillion-won commitment from one of South Korea’s four major banking groups signals that traditional financial institutions now view digital-asset infrastructure as core to long-term strategy — a structural repositioning for the sector in Asia.
Market backdrop
At the time of reporting, Bitcoin traded near $80,000 and was consolidating above its 200-day moving average, as institutional activity across Asia continued to deepen.
Image credits: Grok; BTCUSD chart from TradingView.
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