Major South Korean financial conglomerate Hana Financial is buying a stake in Dunamu, the operator of the crypto exchange Upbit, in its latest venture into the digital assets sector, amid a broader trend of traditional financial institutions wading into the digital assets market.
In a regulatory filing on Friday, Hana Financial announced it is buying more than 2.2 million shares in Dunamu, or roughly 6.55% of the company, from investment firm Kakao Investment, worth over 1.003 trillion Korean won ($668 million).
Hana Financial’s 6.55% stake from Kakao makes it the fourth-largest Dunamu shareholder. South Korean outlet The Chosun Daily reported last September that major shareholders of Dunamu include its chairman Song Chi-hyung with 25.5%; Vice Chairman Kim Hyoung-nyon with 13.1%; Kakao with 10.6% and Woori Technology Investment with 7.2%.
Hana Financial said in the filing that the acquisition is to secure “competitiveness in new finance through strategic equity investment.” At the same time, Kakao also filed regarding the sale and said it was keeping 1.4 million shares on its books while offloading the rest to secure “funds for future investments.”
Hana Financial is buying more than two million shares in Dunamu, or roughly 6.55% of the company. Source: DART
A growing number of banks and traditional financial institutions have started to dip their toes into crypto after years of skepticism. Mirae Asset Consulting, an affiliate of South Korean multinational financial services company Mirae Asset Group, acquired a controlling stake in crypto exchange Korbit in February.
Earlier in the year, fellow exchange Coinone announced it was exploring the sale of shares held by its chairman, with local financial institutions and foreign exchanges rumored to be circling. South Korean tech company Naver Financial also agreed last year to acquire Dunamu through a share swap, bringing the Upbit operator under its umbrella.
Hana Financial very active in crypto sector
The financial conglomerate has been very active in the crypto sector. Hana Financial signed a trilateral memorandum of understanding in April to launch a blockchain-based remittance system with POSCO International and Dunamu.
Related: South Korea crypto holdings halve in a year as investors turn to stock market
Meanwhile, in March, it struck a deal with the UK’s Standard Chartered Group to collaborate on global financial and digital asset markets, and also inked agreements with USDC issuer Circle and major US crypto exchange Crypto.com to promote stablecoin-based payments for foreign visitors in South Korea.
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