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Mirae Asset Takes 97% of Korbit in TradFi-Crypto Infrastructure Play

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Mirae Asset Takes 97% of Korbit in TradFi-Crypto Infrastructure Play

2026-07-23 10:16 UTCBy AlphaScala Research DeskSource reporting: TokenpostEditorial standards7 views

Mirae Asset Takes 97% of Korbit in TradFi-Crypto Infrastructure Play

Mirae Asset Consulting acquired 97.15% of South Korea's first crypto exchange, placing a $1T TradFi group behind a regulated digital-asset gateway. Korbit stressed operational continuity and separate custody of customer assets.

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Mirae Asset Group now controls 97.15% of South Korean exchange Korbit, a near-total ownership shift that places a $1 trillion traditional finance conglomerate directly behind a digital-asset platform.

Korbit announced Thursday UTC that Mirae Asset Consulting, an affiliate of the group, completed regulatory filings and became the exchange's largest shareholder. Founded in 2013 and widely regarded as South Korea's first cryptocurrency exchange, Korbit framed the transaction as a strategic alignment with a financial group that has built trust in traditional finance and is pursuing a global investment platform spanning both conventional and digital assets.

The operating entity, Korbit Inc., remains unchanged. Day-to-day services will continue without disruption, the exchange said. Users can access the platform as usual, including logins, trading, deposits, and withdrawals. Korbit stressed that customer funds and cryptoassets will continue to be held and managed separately under applicable laws, a key assurance in a market where custody and segregation standards have become central to regulatory scrutiny. There are no changes to the entity responsible for personal data processing, the exchange added, meaning customers do not need to take additional steps.

In a brief statement, Korbit said it is preparing for "a new leap" alongside Mirae Asset Group. The exchange pointed to the group's financial-sector experience as a foundation for expanding business opportunities that connect traditional finance with digital assets, aiming to deliver services members can trust.

The backdrop is a South Korean retail market where crypto trading activity has at times rivaled equity-market volumes. That raises the strategic value of exchange stakes for financial incumbents seeking distribution, custody, and product integration as regulations mature. For Korbit, the near-complete transfer of ownership consolidates control under a single major financial group while keeping operations intact, an outcome that could boost institutional confidence in the platform.

Mirae Asset Consulting is part of Mirae Asset Group, which Korbit said has approximately $1 trillion in assets under management as of May. Market participants have interpreted the transaction as part of a broader trend: banks and securities-focused financial groups are increasingly viewing crypto exchanges as strategic infrastructure for expanding digital-asset offerings, rather than as peripheral tech platforms. With ownership consolidated under a major financial group, Korbit may strengthen credibility versus peers by aligning with TradFi governance, potentially improving access to banking rails, partnerships, and institutional liquidity.

The deal also signals a shift from partnership-level exposure to full ownership. Past crypto exchange investments by traditional financial groups often involved minority stakes or joint ventures. Mirae's near-total control of Korbit suggests a more direct bet on exchange infrastructure as a regulated gateway for distribution, custody, and compliance.

Korbit's explicit customer assurance checklist covered three friction points that typically trigger user churn: no disruption to logins, trading, deposits, or withdrawals; continued separate custody of customer funds and cryptoassets under applicable laws; and no change in the personal data processing entity. That framing suggests the exchange anticipated and addressed user concerns about what a controlling shareholder change means for asset safety.

Mirae's scale could enable Korbit to pursue more robust offerings that connect TradFi and crypto, such as compliance-grade custody, institutional onboarding, and integrated investment products, subject to local regulatory allowances. The key watch items going forward are any changes in listing, custody, or risk policies; potential product launches bridging traditional and digital assets; and regulatory responses to increased financial-group control of exchange infrastructure.

The transaction closes a chapter for Korbit's original founding team. The exchange began operations in 2013, before South Korea's crypto boom turned retail trading volumes into a force that occasionally matched the country's stock market. Control now sits with a conglomerate that manages more assets than most of the banks Korbit competes with for user deposits.