South Korea’s biggest cryptocurrency exchange, Upbit, may soon come under the control of internet giant Naver.
According to a DongA Ilbo report, Naver’s financial arm, Naver Financial, is discussing possible partnerships with Dunamu, the company behind crypto exchange Upbit. The talks include the option of a share-swap arrangement as well as other areas of cooperation, but both firms stressed that nothing has been finalized yet.
How the share-swap works
A share-swap is a way for two companies to combine their governance without merging completely. One company becomes the parent, while the other becomes its subsidiary. Under the reported plan, Naver Financial would issue new shares to Dunamu’s current investors in exchange for their holdings, with both sides determining the share values.
Naver currently holds around 75% of Naver Financial. If the swap goes ahead, Dunamu would become a wholly owned subsidiary, bringing Naver, Naver Pay, and Dunamu under one structure, linking payment services and cryptocurrency operations.
The main shareholders of Dunamu are Chairman Song Chi-hyung (about 25.5%), Vice Chairman Kim Hyung-nyeon (13.1%), Kakao Investment (10.6%), Woori Technology Investment (7.2%), and Hanwha Investment & Securities (5.9%).
Further, in the same report, Dunamu’s CEO, Oh Kyung-seok, said, “Digital assets such as stablecoins are an undeniable trend. As stablecoins proliferate, related infrastructure, such as chains and wallets, will become popular, and financial services such as payments and asset management will transition to Web3-based blockchain services.”
Following this news, NAVER Corporation’s share price surged 9.65%, reaching ₩250,000, up from the previous close of ₩228,000, as per Yahoo Finance.
The discussions also come as the South Korean government is preparing rules for won-pegged stablecoins. On September 9, 2025, Upbit launched a test version of its Ethereum layer-2 blockchain, Giwa (Global Infrastructure for Web3 Access). Built on Optimism’s OP Stack, it processes transactions in one second per block using Ethereum’s security.
Also Read: South Korea Reports Increase in Suspicious Crypto Transactions
