Hana Financial Group, one of South Korea's four largest banking groups, has agreed to acquire a 6.55% stake in Dunamu for 1.033 trillion won, approximately $670 million, in what the Korea Herald described as the country's first major equity deal between a traditional financial group and a digital asset firm.
The board approved the purchase of 2,284,000 Dunamu shares from Kakao Investment, reducing the IT conglomerate's stake in the crypto exchange operator to around 4%. Hana becomes Dunamu's fourth-largest shareholder, behind founder and Chair Song Chi-hyung at 25.51%, Vice Chair Kim Hyoung-nyon at 13.1%, and Woori Technology at 7.2%. The deal is expected to close in June.
Dunamu operates Upbit, South Korea's dominant crypto exchange, and holds a blockchain network called Giwa. The two firms signed a memorandum of understanding alongside the share deal to jointly develop blockchain-based foreign currency remittances running on Giwa, won-backed stablecoins, and a wealth management product linking Upbit with Hana Financial's fund, pension and trust infrastructure.
The remittance work is already underway. Hana and Dunamu completed a proof of concept for SWIFT-based foreign currency remittances on Giwa in February, and in April signed a three-way partnership with Posco International to test the service in commercial settings.
"This investment is a strategic move to accelerate financial innovation in digital assets," Hana Financial Group Chairman Ham Young-joo said. "By working with Dunamu, we aim to help shape Korea's blockchain ecosystem and bring the country's digital asset industry closer to the global forefront."
For Kakao, the sale represents a significant exit. The company invested a total of 35.5 billion won in Dunamu after the exchange was founded in 2012. At the price Hana paid, that stake has grown approximately 300-fold. Kakao retains around 4% after the transaction.
The deal arrives as Dunamu is mid-process on a separate structural change. In November 2025, Naver announced it would acquire Dunamu in an all-stock deal valued at approximately $10.3 billion. Dunamu and Naver Financial shareholders are set to vote on that merger on May 22, with the share exchange planned for June 30, pending regulatory approvals. Hana's entry as a significant shareholder adds a major financial institution to the cap table ahead of that vote.
South Korea introduced a 20% ownership cap for crypto exchanges including Upbit and Bithumb in March, a constraint that sets a ceiling on how deeply any single institution can embed itself in the country's digital asset infrastructure.
