The trading volume chart of South Korean crypto exchanges has plummeted, falling to one-tenth of the domestic stock market’s trading volume. But the boardrooms of the country’s oldest banks and conglomerates don’t seem to care. Instead, they are having traders write nine-figure checks for stocks on the very exchanges they have been abandoning.
According to WuBlockchain’s weekly summary, Hana Bank, Samsung Securities, Samsung SDS, Samsung Card, Hanwha Investment & Securities, Mirae Asset Consulting, Korea Investment & Securities, and even overseas OKX Ventures are accumulating ownership stakes in Upbit, Corbit, and CoinOne. The scramble comes as the South Korean government moves to institutionalize a Korean won stablecoin, dampening retail enthusiasm while creating a regulatory runway for incumbents to lean into digital asset infrastructure.
who buys what
Hana Bank plans to acquire a 6.55% stake in Upbit operating company Dunam for approximately $665 million. Samsung’s affiliates Samsung Securities, Samsung SDS, and Samsung Card plan to jointly acquire a 4% stake in the same company. Hanwha Investment & Securities plans to add another 3.90%. If all transactions are completed as indicated, Dunamu will suddenly count part of South Korea’s financial and industrial backbone among its shareholders.
Elsewhere, Mirae Asset Consulting has decided to acquire a 92.06% controlling interest in Korbit for approximately $88.5 million. The move effectively takes the exchange private under a large asset management company. Meanwhile, Korea Investment Securities and OKX Ventures each plan to acquire about 20% of Coinone, with sizable minority positions split between domestic brokerages and foreign exchange operators.
This amount is large by any region’s standards, but it comes at a time when trading volume on South Korean cryptocurrency exchanges has fallen to 8% of May’s KOSPI trading volume. In December 2024, this ratio briefly reached 323%. The disconnect between market price trends and institutional positioning is significant and intentional.
institutionalization engine
South Korea’s Financial Services Commission is advancing a framework for a won-backed stablecoin to be issued by banks and used within a regulated payment and settlement system. Traditional companies do more than simply enter the retail trading arena by securing stock on an exchange. They are positioning themselves at the center of the future on-chain payment layer for fiat currencies. This calculation changes the risk profile of your investment. Banks that own part of the exchanges that clear stablecoin transactions are no longer speculating on the altcoin cycle and are acquiring significant financial infrastructure.
This infrastructure angle reflects a pattern seen outside of Korea. In the same month, the global tokenization roundup garnered $4.2 billion in transactions and the first live tokenized Treasury settlement on-chain, reinforcing the trend of existing capital settling into regulated digital asset rails.
Compliance also appears to be a motivator. South Korea’s five Won-licensed exchanges (Upbit, Bithumb, Coinone, Korbit, and Gopax) operate under a strict regime that requires bank affiliation and real-name accounts. Owning a portion of these exchanges gives banks and brokerages direct access to compliance processes, fee streams, and data. It is both an offensive and a defensive move.
What the market hasn’t priced yet
Despite the rush, trading is not without risk. Dunamu’s valuation means a total enterprise value of more than $10 billion, at a time when Upbit’s trading revenue is under severe pressure. If volume remains depressed for multiple quarters, the returns on these bets can look very different. Additionally, while the stablecoin framework is evolving, there is no final legislation. If the bill is delayed or changed, financial institutions could be left holding shares in businesses valued on assumptions that have not yet materialized.
OKX Ventures’ move to Coinone adds another layer. Foreign control over any part of a Won-licensed exchange raises geopolitical and regulatory issues, especially given the continued scrutiny of foreign exchange operations in Asia. Even if the investment were passed now, a change of administration or a single enforcement action could force restructuring.
Not all jurisdictions welcome the introduction of traditional finance to cryptocurrencies so fluidly. In the United States, banks are actively working to block a landmark cryptocurrency bill just days before a Senate vote, showing how political and regulatory trends can diverge sharply from South Korea’s direction.
For market participants, the Korea Exchange bets indicate that financial institutions are betting on structural changes rather than business cycles. Stablecoin projects, compliance architectures, and retail adoption during past booms suggest that a quarter of the volume is not a hindrance to long-term capital. But these bets have yet to be tested by a prolonged bear market or policy shift. The deal is big. The premise is bigger. And the timing is completely different from traditional ones.
