Samsung affiliates have invested $408 million in Dunamu, the parent company of South Korea’s largest crypto exchange Upbit, as major Korean firms race to secure positions in the country’s fast growing digital asset market.
Key Takeaways
- Samsung Securities, Samsung SDS and Samsung Card acquired a combined 4% stake in Dunamu for about $408 million.
- The deal comes as South Korea prepares new rules for stablecoins, tokenized securities and crypto services.
- Hana Bank and Hanwha Investment & Securities recently increased their own Dunamu holdings.
- Industry observers believe firms are positioning themselves for a future won based stablecoin ecosystem.
What Happened?
Samsung Securities, Samsung SDS and Samsung Card announced on May 28 that they approved the purchase of 1.39 million Dunamu shares from Kakao affiliates for 612.8 billion won, or roughly $408 million.
Under the deal structure, Samsung Securities will acquire a 2% stake, while Samsung SDS and Samsung Card will each take 1%. The transaction values Dunamu at approximately 15.3 trillion won.
🇰🇷 LATEST: Samsung affiliates are acquiring a $408M stake in crypto exchange Upbit parent Dunamu. pic.twitter.com/T899LyJ2ew
— Cointelegraph (@Cointelegraph) May 28, 2026
Samsung Expands Its Digital Asset Strategy
The investment marks Samsung’s latest move into South Korea’s growing digital asset sector. Dunamu operates Upbit, the country’s largest cryptocurrency exchange and one of the world’s biggest spot trading platforms by volume.
According to CoinMarketCap rankings referenced in the reports, Upbit ranks among the top global crypto exchanges. That position has made Dunamu an increasingly valuable target for Korean financial institutions and technology firms preparing for the next phase of regulated crypto adoption.
Samsung affiliates said the investment was designed to strengthen their competitiveness in digital asset related businesses. Each unit also outlined separate plans tied to blockchain and crypto infrastructure.
Samsung Securities plans to cooperate with Dunamu on tokenized securities issuance, distribution and cryptocurrency related financial services.
Samsung SDS intends to combine its AI, cloud, security and data management capabilities with Dunamu’s blockchain expertise to support next generation digital finance infrastructure.
Samsung Card is reviewing digital asset payment services tied to potential won pegged stablecoins through Samsung Financial’s integrated app Monimo.
A Samsung official said the companies expect closer cooperation with Dunamu to help strengthen their leadership position in digital asset markets.
Dunamu also welcomed the strategic investment and said it plans to actively cooperate with Samsung affiliates on blockchain-based financial investment products, payment infrastructure and AI expansion using blockchain technologies.
Korean Finance Giants Rush Into Dunamu
Samsung’s investment follows a wave of major stake purchases involving Dunamu over the past two weeks.
Earlier this month, Hana Bank agreed to acquire a 6.55% stake in Dunamu for approximately 1.003 trillion won, or nearly $670 million. The deal is expected to make Hana one of Dunamu’s largest shareholders once completed.
Hanwha Investment & Securities also increased its ownership stake to 9.84% after purchasing additional Dunamu shares worth around 597.8 billion won.
Combined, the recent investments from Samsung, Hana and Hanwha represent more than 2.2 trillion won flowing into Dunamu in less than two weeks.
Industry analysts believe the aggressive buying activity reflects growing expectations surrounding South Korea’s proposed Digital Asset Basic Act. The framework under discussion is expected to establish rules for stablecoins, exchange operations, investor protections and digital asset service providers.
Stablecoin Competition Is Heating Up
One of the biggest drivers behind the investments appears to be the future launch of won denominated stablecoins in South Korea.
Under the proposed framework, banks may become primary stablecoin issuers, but exchanges, securities firms, payment companies and technology providers are all expected to play critical operational roles across issuance, reserve management, wallets, compliance and payment infrastructure.
That has increased the strategic value of Dunamu and Upbit because of their large user base and established crypto infrastructure.
Industry observers also pointed to the planned integration between Dunamu and Naver Financial through a comprehensive stock swap structure. If completed, the combination could merge Naver’s payment and commerce ecosystem with Dunamu’s crypto infrastructure, potentially strengthening its role in South Korea’s future stablecoin market.
CoinLaw’s Takeaway
In my experience, this is one of the clearest signs yet that South Korea’s biggest financial and technology firms no longer see crypto as a side market. They are now treating digital assets as part of the country’s future financial system.
I found the stablecoin angle especially important here. These investments are not just about crypto trading anymore. Companies are positioning themselves early for payment systems, tokenized assets and blockchain based financial services that could become mainstream over the next few years.
