Samsung Securities, Samsung SDS and Samsung Card will acquire a combined 4% stake in Dunamu, the operator of South Korean crypto exchange Upbit, in a deal that expands Samsung affiliates’ exposure to the country’s digital asset market, according to local media reports.
The three Samsung affiliates held board meetings on Thursday and approved the purchase of 1.39 million Dunamu shares held by Kakao affiliates for 612.8 billion won ($408 million), per reports from Yonhap News Agency and ZDNet Korea. Samsung Securities will acquire a 2% stake, while Samsung SDS and Samsung Card will each acquire 1%.
The deal also follows a separate major Dunamu investment by a South Korean financial group. On May 15, Hana Financial Group said it would acquire a 6.55% stake in Dunamu from Kakao Investment for more than $668 million, making it the Upbit operator’s fourth-largest shareholder.
Samsung Securities plans to cooperate with Dunamu on tokenized securities issuance and distribution, as well as broader digital asset services. Samsung SDS plans to combine its IT, artificial intelligence, cloud, security and data capabilities with Dunamu’s blockchain operations experience. Samsung Card is expected to explore digital asset payment use cases with Dunamu, including through Samsung Financial Networks’ integrated app Monimo.
The investment extends Samsung’s digital asset push weeks after Samsung SDS reportedly won a contract to build South Korea’s blockchain-based securities platform for the Korea Securities Depository, which is expected to support the country’s incoming framework for tokenized securities.
South Korea is preparing to formalize its tokenized securities framework after lawmakers passed amendments to the Electronic Registration Act and the Financial Investment Services and Capital Markets Act in January. The Financial Services Commission said the changes legally recognize blockchain-based distributed ledgers as securities registries. The framework is scheduled to take effect on Feb. 4, 2027.
South Korea’s FSC also said in January that it was continuing discussions on the country’s second-phase virtual asset legislation, while cautioning that key details — including stablecoin issuer structures — had not been finalized.
Cointelegraph reached out to Samsung and Dunamu for comment but did not receive a response before publication.
Source: Samsung Affiliates Buy $408M Stake in South Korean Crypto Exchange Upbit’s Parent