Hana Bank becomes Dunamu's fourth-largest shareholder, joining Naver's planned $10B acquisition, as South Korea eases crypto rules and stablecoin plans advance.
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Hana Financial Group’s Hana Bank acquired a 6.55% stake in Dunamu, the operator of South Korea’s dominant crypto exchange Upbit, for approximately 1 trillion won ($670 million). The shares were purchased from Kakao Investment, making Hana Bank Dunamu’s fourth-largest shareholder. The transaction includes a cooperation agreement to build infrastructure for a won-denominated stablecoin, marking a direct move by a major Korean bank into digital-asset settlement rails.
The investment lands while Dunamu is already the target of a separate, far larger deal. In November 2025, Naver Financial, a subsidiary of Naver Corp., agreed to acquire Dunamu in an all-stock transaction valued at roughly $10 billion. Naver Financial has signaled plans to pursue an IPO after completing that share swap. Hana Bank’s stake adds a second layer of institutional capital to Dunamu’s ownership structure, creating a more complex set of incentives ahead of the Naver deal’s expected close.
The purchase from Kakao Investment shifts a meaningful block of Dunamu equity from a tech-affiliated venture arm to a commercial banking group. Hana Bank is part of Hana Financial Group, one of South Korea’s “big four” banking conglomerates. The stake gives the bank direct exposure to Upbit’s trading-fee revenue and to the broader Dunamu ecosystem, which includes wallet services and blockchain infrastructure.
For Dunamu, the capital injection reinforces its balance sheet at a time when the Naver acquisition is still pending regulatory and shareholder approvals. The cooperation agreement on a won-backed stablecoin signals that Hana Bank intends to be more than a passive financial investor. The bank’s involvement could accelerate Dunamu’s ability to launch a regulated stablecoin product, a move that would tie Upbit’s liquidity more tightly to the traditional banking system.
The stablecoin initiative does not exist in a vacuum. Woori Bank partnered with MoonPay in April on a separate won-backed stablecoin project, indicating that multiple large Korean banks are now competing to build on-chain fiat rails. Hana Bank’s tie-up with Dunamu positions it to capture a share of the won-stablecoin market if regulators grant the necessary approvals.
South Korean authorities have eased restrictions on corporate cryptocurrency ownership. Listed companies may now invest up to 5% of their equity in digital assets, a sharp reversal from earlier policies that prohibited corporate holdings and tightly controlled exchange operations. The regulatory pivot reduces the legal risk for Hana Bank’s stake and for the stablecoin project, though the framework for won-denominated stablecoins remains under development.
The single largest factor that would reduce uncertainty around Hana Bank’s investment is the successful closing of Naver Financial’s acquisition of Dunamu. Completion of that share swap would lock in Dunamu’s valuation, provide a clear exit path for existing shareholders, and set the stage for Naver Financial’s planned IPO. For Hana Bank, a closed Naver deal means its 6.55% stake sits inside a publicly accountable corporate structure with greater transparency and liquidity.
Regulatory consistency is the second risk reducer. If South Korean policymakers finalize stablecoin legislation and maintain the current permissive stance on corporate crypto holdings, the won-backed stablecoin project can move from a cooperation agreement to a live product. That would give Hana Bank a revenue stream tied to on-chain settlement volumes, diversifying its exposure beyond the equity stake.
Execution risk on the stablecoin project is the most immediate concern. Building a won-backed stablecoin requires technical integration, regulatory sign-off, and sufficient demand from Upbit’s user base. Delays or a failure to launch would leave Hana Bank with a passive minority stake in a company whose valuation is heavily tied to the Naver deal, not to a new payments rail.
A policy reversal is the larger tail risk. South Korea’s regulatory history includes abrupt crackdowns on crypto exchanges and corporate involvement. If authorities were to reimpose restrictions on bank-crypto partnerships or tighten stablecoin rules, the cooperation agreement could be rendered unworkable. That would reduce the strategic value of Hana Bank’s stake and could pressure Dunamu’s valuation if the Naver deal had not yet closed.
Concentration risk also matters. Dunamu’s revenue is overwhelmingly dependent on Upbit, which dominates Korean crypto trading volumes. Any disruption to Upbit’s operations, whether from a regulatory action, a security incident, or a loss of market share to competing exchanges, would flow directly to Dunamu’s equity value and to Hana Bank’s investment.
Hana Bank’s $670 million stake in Dunamu is a concrete bet on the convergence of Korean banking and digital-asset infrastructure. The next decision point is the progress of Naver Financial’s acquisition, which will determine the ownership structure in which that bet sits. After that, the stablecoin project’s regulatory milestones become the operational catalyst that separates a passive equity holding from a strategic partnership with real revenue potential.
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