Are cryptocurrency exchanges collectively changing ownership? A positioning competition among South Korean financial giants

Last week, South Korean cryptocurrency exchange Coinone officially announced the introduction of two heavyweight new shareholders. OKX Ventures, the venture capital arm of global exchange OKX, and Korea Investment & Securities (KIS), a major South Korean brokerage firm, will each acquire approximately 19.6% to 20% of the shares for 80 billion won (about US$53 million), totaling nearly 40%. OKX Ventures and KIS will then become the third-largest shareholders. On the surface, this deal is a story of "foreign capital knocking on the door of South Korea," similar to Binance's acquisition of Gopax, making OKX another leading international player directly holding a significant stake in a licensed South Korean exchange. However, if we zoom out, the real protagonist of this deal is actually the South Korean brokerage firm that operates alongside OKX. Kim Sung-hwan, CEO of Korea Investment & Securities (KIS), also revealed the motivation: "This is our first step from traditional finance to blockchain digital financial services." For KIS, Coinone is a springboard, allowing it to enter new battlegrounds such as the issuance and circulation of security tokens (STOs), stablecoin-related services, digital asset brokerage, and institutional-grade crypto businesses. It can be said that even this transaction, packaged as "foreign investment," is primarily driven by a local Korean brokerage firm, with foreign investors appearing more like a few financial investors hitching a ride. And this Coinone deal, placed within the context of the past three months, is just the tip of the iceberg of the entire Korean crypto landscape. Just one day before the Coinone signing, on May 28th, three companies under the Samsung Group—Samsung Securities, Samsung SDS, and Samsung Credit Card—jointly announced that they would invest approximately 612.8 billion won (approximately US$408 million to US$446 million) to acquire a 4% stake in Dunamu, the parent company of Upbit, South Korea's largest crypto exchange. Samsung Securities acquired 2%, while Samsung SDS and Samsung Credit Card each acquired 1%. The transaction, involving approximately 1.39 million shares, was conducted entirely in cash from Kakao-affiliated funds and is expected to close on June 19. Notably, the valuation: at approximately 439,000 won per share, Dunamu's overall enterprise value is estimated at approximately 15.3 trillion won, equivalent to about US$11.1 billion. The Kakao-affiliated funds, acting as sellers, exited Dunamu entirely through this large transaction, symbolizing the replacement of "old shareholders" with "new faces" on the South Korean cryptocurrency landscape.Moreover, the three Samsung subsidiaries each entered the market with distinct strategies, which almost perfectly align with the three pillars of South Korea's Digital Asset Basic Law, expected to be finalized in 2026: Samsung Securities focuses on the issuance and circulation of security tokens and virtual asset-related services, corresponding to STOs and tokenized securities; Samsung SDS intends to integrate artificial intelligence, information security, and data governance capabilities into Dunamu's blockchain operational infrastructure, corresponding to underlying technological infrastructure; and Samsung Credit Card targets the digital asset payment ecosystem, planning to integrate encrypted payments into Monimo, Samsung Financial Network's unified platform, after the launch of the Korean won stablecoin, directly corresponding to stablecoin payment. In other words, Samsung is not treating this 4% as a simple financial investment, but rather as a piece of the group's financial services strategy for the next decade. A Samsung source told the Korea Times that this move aims to strengthen the competitiveness of each subsidiary in the digital asset business and help the group achieve a leading position in the market. For one of South Korea's most influential chaebols, this is tantamount to announcing to the market that it is building a complete digital asset infrastructure, not gambling. Rewinding the clock a bit further, in mid-May, Hana Bank agreed to acquire a 6.55% stake in Dunamu for approximately 1 trillion won (about $670 million to $720 million), becoming the first South Korean financial holding group to directly hold a stake in a cryptocurrency exchange. Less than ten days later, Hanwha Investment & Securities approved an additional 3.90%, raising its stake to 9.84% and investing an extra 597.8 billion won, becoming one of Dunamu's largest non-founding shareholders. Furthermore, Mirae Asset, through its subsidiary Mirae Asset Advisors, had already signed an agreement in February to acquire a 92.06% controlling stake in Korbit, South Korea's fourth-largest exchange, for approximately 133.5 billion won. From the leading Upbit and the third-largest Coinone to Korbit, almost every major South Korean exchange has seen a new face from a traditional financial institution emerge within just a few months. Why are these traditional funds so eager to invest? Dunamu's financial figures provide part of the answer: in fiscal year 2025, it delivered 1.56 trillion won in revenue and 708.8 billion won in net profit, effectively controlling over 80% of South Korea's virtual asset trading volume. The significance of this market for banks and securities firms is self-evident. A report released last week by research firm Tiger Research, which analyzed 150 institutions and 196 partnerships in South Korea, reached a key conclusion: currently, no single hub has achieved dominant market control.The complex relationship diagram accurately reflects the current market chaos, revealing that various institutions are simultaneously positioning themselves across different sectors before regulatory decisions are finalized. This can be seen as a "battle for exchange equity," mirroring the actions of Hana, Hanwha, Samsung, Mirae Asset, and KIS. Analysts believe the essence of this competition is a "revaluation" of the value of cryptocurrency exchanges: exchanges are no longer merely fee-collecting trading platforms, but key customer touchpoints for distributing stablecoins, custody services, security tokens, and RWA products. For banks and securities firms, investing in exchanges is a shortcut: they can indirectly obtain licenses such as VASP registration and gain immediate access to the exchange's existing user base and liquidity. Further analysis of this competition reveals three main battlefronts: stablecoins, STOs, and custody. The maturity levels of these three battlefronts vary considerably. The most active sector is custody, with several companies already providing services after overcoming regulatory hurdles. RWA and STO are mostly stuck in the contract or MOU stage, awaiting legislative enactment. Stablecoins are similarly stalled, with no single party claiming dominance in standard setting. The biggest obstacle isn't technology, but legislation. The Bank of Korea is pushing the "51% rule," advocating that only consortia with a majority stake held by banks can issue stablecoins, which has met with strong backlash from fintech companies, repeatedly delaying cross-party negotiations. This current wave of collaborations and acquisitions shouldn't be interpreted as typical business development, but rather as institutions securing advantageous arrangements before regulatory finalization, then using these arrangements to influence the final regulatory framework. The current alliances are less about seizing market share and more about "designing regulation." Supporting this assessment is the clear shift in market focus. Analysis indicates that the South Korean crypto market has undergone a significant restructuring in just six months: a custody alliance has taken shape, an STO alliance has been formed, and financial giants are vying to invest in exchanges. Simultaneously, retail trading volume has shrunk rapidly, with the combined trading volume of the five major exchanges decreasing by approximately 48% year-on-year. The market's core is rapidly shifting from retail investors to institutional investors. Piecing together OKX's investment in Coinone, Samsung's acquisition of Dunamu, Hana and Hanwha's increased investment, and Mirae Asset's acquisition of Korbit reveals that they are actually different facets of the same story: a consolidation led by securities firms and banks, working together to reposition the South Korean crypto landscape from a "retail speculative trading arena" to a "traditional financial digital asset distribution gateway." However, because operational consolidation has not yet materialized, most collaborations remain at the level of MOUs, and STOs and stablecoins are still awaiting legislation, the market remains hesitant and skeptical.This shift has also changed how overseas cryptocurrency projects enter the South Korean market. Just as Solana partnered with Shinhan Card and Avalanche with Mirae Asset, projects entering the South Korean market have shifted their primary focus from exchanges to partnerships with financial institutions and large corporations. [ChainCatcher]