OKX teams up with "Korea Investment & Securities" to acquire a 20% stake in Coinone exchange

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OKX announced that it is partnering with Korea Investment & Securities to acquire approximately 20% of the South Korean exchange Coinone through a capital increase. If approved, it will become the second global platform to enter the equity structure of a top-tier South Korean exchange, following Binance’s acquisition of a stake in Gopax. On the same day, Hana Financial also spent approximately $670 million to acquire shares of Dunamu, the operator of Upbit, from Kakao, signaling a major reshuffling of the equity structure of South Korean crypto exchanges. (Context: Did South Korea’s "crypto-friendly president" Lee Jae-myung betray the Digital Asset Basic Act? Exchange shareholding caps have the industry on edge.) (Background: South Korea lifts ban: Companies can now hold crypto assets! $52 billion flowed out over the past 9 years.) Crypto exchange OKX stated that it plans to partner with Korea Investment & Securities to acquire approximately 20% of the South Korean crypto exchange Coinone. According to reports, this transaction may be completed through the issuance of new shares by Coinone rather than the sale of existing shares by current shareholders, and the management structure of Coinone will not change directly after the transaction is completed. Korea Investment & Securities is one of the largest brokerage firms in South Korea, with a net profit exceeding $1.3 billion in 2025, demonstrating strong financial capability. Coinone is currently 53.44% owned by Chairman Cha Myung-hoon and is one of the four major compliant exchanges in South Korea, alongside Upbit, Bithumb, and Korbit, all of which have secured banking partnerships and registration with the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU). If the transaction is approved, OKX will become the second global exchange to enter the equity structure of a top-tier South Korean trading platform, following Binance’s acquisition of a 67% majority stake in Gopax in 2023 through the "Industry Recovery Initiative." However, it took over two years of anti-money laundering reviews for Binance to receive formal approval from the FIU. OKX’s choice of a "20% capital increase" rather than a "buyout of control" is clearly a lesson learned from previous experiences. Another transaction of even larger scale surfaced on the same day. Hana Financial, one of South Korea’s four major banking groups, announced the acquisition of 2.284 million shares of Dunamu, the operator of Upbit, from Kakao for approximately 1 trillion KRW (about $670 million), securing a 6.55% stake and becoming Dunamu’s fourth-largest shareholder. Ahead of Hana are founder and Chairman Song Chi-hyung (25.51%), Vice Chairman Kim Hyoung-nyon (13.1%), and Woori Technology (7.2%). The transaction is expected to be completed in June, and both parties plan to cooperate in areas such as stablecoin issuance, settlement systems, and digital financial infrastructure. This is the first major equity transaction between a traditional financial group and a digital asset enterprise in South Korea. With two large transactions reported in a single day, the equity structure of South Korean crypto exchanges is shifting from "founder-led" to "institutional ownership." The driving force behind this restructuring is not just business logic. South Korean regulators are pushing for the Digital Asset Basic Act, a key provision of which proposes a 20% cap on shareholding by a single shareholder in an exchange. Taking Coinone as an example, Cha Myung-hoon’s current 53.44% stake far exceeds the proposed threshold; if the bill passes, he will be forced to complete a divestment or equity restructuring within three to six years. This also explains why "capital dilution" rather than "direct transfer" became the preferred option for the OKX deal—it allows for the introduction of external capital without immediately affecting the founder’s control, providing a buffer for the transition period before the regulations take effect. However, the legislative progress of the Digital Asset Basic Act has not been smooth. Disputes over the authority to issue stablecoins have delayed the bill from the end of last year to this year, and the ruling Democratic Party has postponed substantive negotiations until after the local elections on June 3. The bill is not expected to be implemented until late 2026 or 2027 at the earliest. How will OKX acquire shares in Coinone? OKX plans to partner with Korea Investment & Securities to acquire approximately 20% of shares through the issuance of new shares by Coinone, rather than purchasing them from existing shareholders. The transaction will not change Coinone’s existing management structure. What are the restrictions on exchange equity in South Korea’s Digital Asset Basic Act? The bill proposes a 20% cap on shareholding by a single

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