Samsung trio to acquire $408 million stake in crypto giant Dunamu from Kakao

Three Samsung affiliates are spending 612.8 billion won ($408 million) to buy a 4% stake in Dunamu, the company behind South Korea’s dominant crypto exchange Upbit, in a move aimed at accelerating their expansion into digital asset and blockchain-related businesses, according to Korea Herald.

Samsung Securities, the brokerage arm of Samsung Group, is taking a 2% stake. Samsung SDS, the conglomerate’s IT services division, and Samsung Card, its payments subsidiary, are each picking up 1%.

Together, they’re acquiring 1.39 million shares from a group of Kakao-affiliated investment vehicles in an all-cash block sale. The transaction is set to close June 19.

The sellers include Kakao Investment, Kakao Ventures, the Kakao Youth Entrepreneurship Fund, and the KIF–Kakao Woori Bank Technology Finance Investment Fund, all of which will fully divest their holdings in Dunamu through the block sale.

Each affiliate has a different reason for buying

The operational rationales barely overlap. Samsung Securities wants to work with Dunamu on token securities. Samsung SDS is looking at ways to combine its AI, cloud, and cybersecurity capabilities with Dunamu’s blockchain infrastructure.

Samsung Card is exploring crypto-based payment services on Samsung Financial Group’s Monimo platform, contingent on the introduction of won-denominated stablecoins.

A Samsung official said the investment is designed to strengthen each affiliate’s competitiveness in digital finance and secure leadership in the fast-changing digital asset industry.

A pattern among Korean financial conglomerates

Dunamu isn’t the only Korean exchange attracting institutional capital. Korea Investment Holdings has acquired a stake in Coinone. Mirae Asset has moved to Korbit.

The country’s largest financial conglomerates are systematically buying into the crypto exchange infrastructure. Upbit has commanded somewhere north of 70% of Korean crypto trading volume at various points, making Dunamu one of the most important exchange companies globally.

What Dunamu gets out of this

From Dunamu’s side, bringing Samsung into the cap table replaces a set of venture-style Kakao investors with three operating companies that each bring distribution, technology, or regulatory relationships.

A Dunamu official described the partnership as spanning blockchain-based financial products, payment infrastructure, distribution systems, and AI-powered services.

Disclosure: This article was edited by Vivian Nguyen. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.