Samsung Affiliates Pay $408 Million for Upbit Operator Stake, Closing June 2026

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Three Samsung affiliates have agreed to jointly acquire a 4% stake in Dunamu, the company behind South Korea’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, Upbit, for approximately 612.8 billion won ($408 million). Samsung Affiliates Pay $408 Million for Upbit Operator Stake, Closing June 2026 Key Takeaways - Regional news outlets report that Samsung affiliates will acquire a 4% Dunamu stake for 612.8 billion won ($408M), closing June 19, 2026. - The deal gives Upbit, South Korea’s largest crypto exchange by volume, direct ties to major finance firms. - Samsung Securities targets tokenized securities while Samsung Card eyes crypto payments via Monimo. Samsung Units to Acquire 4% Stake in Upbit Operator Dunamu Samsung Securities, Samsung SDS, and Samsung Card announced the deal on May 28, 2026, according to the Korea Herald and several other local outlets. The three units will collectively purchase roughly 1.39 million shares from Kakao-affiliated sellers, including Kakao Investment, Kakao Ventures, Kakao Youth Entrepreneurship Fund, and the KIF-Kakao Woori Bank Technology Finance Investment Fund. The transaction is structured as an all-cash block sale and is scheduled to close on June 19, 2026. Samsung Securities will take a 2% stake, acquiring approximately 697,487 shares for about 306.3 billion won. Samsung SDS and Samsung Card will each take a 1% stake. The per-share price sits at approximately 439,250 to 441,000 won, placing Dunamu’s implied valuation at roughly 15.3 trillion won, or about $11.1 billion. The sale is part of Kakao’s broader effort to reduce its holdings in Dunamu. Each of the three buyers has outlined distinct goals for the partnership. Samsung Securities, the brokerage unit, plans to collaborate with Dunamu on tokenized securities issuance, distribution, and virtual asset services. Korea Herald reporter Choi Yeon-jae detailed that Samsung SDS, the conglomerate’s information technology and services division, plans to fuse its strengths in AI, cloud computing, cybersecurity, and data management with Dunamu’s blockchain infrastructure to expand the digital finance software sector. The report explains that Samsung Card, the company’s payments arm, has set its sights on crypto payment networks, including the possibility of integrating such services into its Monimo platform should won-denominated stablecoins gain traction under South Korea’s evolving regulatory framework. Choi Yeon-jae further cited a Samsung official who stated that the investment is designed to sharpen the firm’s competitive standing in digital finance while establishing a foothold in a market steadily gravitating toward blockchain-oriented financial products. Moreover, Dunamu told the Korea Herald that it welcomed the alliance as an opportunity to advance blockchain payments, distribution systems, and artificial intelligence (AI) ideas. Upbit consistently captures between 70% and 80% of South Korea’s domestic cryptocurrency trading volume, which places it among the top exchanges globally by volume. As of today, Upbit recorded roughly $1.21 billion in 24-hour trading volume, placing it as the world’s third-largest crypto exchange by volume behind Binance and Coinbase, respectively. Dunamu founded the platform in October 2017 and launched it with an early partnership with U.S.-based Bittrex. The company was founded in 2012 and has grown to include blockchain research unit Lambda256, developer platform Nodit, and additional investment and services subsidiaries. In fiscal 2025, Dunamu posted net profit of 708.8 billion won on revenue of 1.56 trillion won. The Samsung affiliates’ purchase caps a busy month for institutional investment in Dunamu. Earlier in May 2026, Hana Bank, part of Hana Financial Group, acquired a 6.55% stake for approximately 1 trillion won, or $670 million. Hanwha Investment and Securities also purchased a significant stake, reported at approximately 9.84%. Together, these deals have shifted close to 14% of Dunamu’s shares toward major Korean financial institutions and reduced Kakao’s influence over the company. TradFi and Digital Assets Continue to Converge in South Korea South Korea’s regulatory direction is a key driver behind the activity. Policymakers are advancing frameworks that would allow won-based stablecoins and expand the role of tokenized assets in domestic payments and finance. Traditional financial firms are moving early to build positions ahead of those changes taking effect. The interest in Dunamu reflects a broader pattern across Asia, where established banks, brokerages, and payment companies are acquiring direct stakes in regulated crypto exchanges rather than building competing infrastructure from scratch. For South Korea, the convergence of traditional finance (TradFi) and digital assets is moving faster than in many comparable markets, with licensed exchanges like Upbit at the center of that shift. Dunamu had been in discussions with multiple potential strategic partners in the months prior. The Samsung affiliates’ entry, combined with the earlier moves by Hana Bank and Hanwha, signals that major Korean financial groups view ownership in the country’s leading crypto exchange as a core position in digital finance, not a speculative bet. The transaction closing date of June 19 gives both sides roughly three weeks to finalize the transfer.

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