South Korea's Biggest Bank Just Made a $670M Crypto Bet on Upbit's Parent Company

 


South Korea's traditional banking sector made its most consequential move yet into crypto infrastructure this week. Hana Bank, one of the country's largest commercial lenders, approved the purchase of a 6.55% stake in Dunamu, the company behind crypto exchange Upbit, for approximately 1 trillion Korean won. That comes out to roughly $670 million.

The shares are coming from Kakao Investment, an affiliate of tech giant Kakao, which built that position from an original 35.5 billion won entry that grew over 300-fold since Dunamu's founding in 2012. Kakao is cashing out the bulk of that position while retaining around 4% after the deal closes on June 15.

But the real story isn't the equity transfer. Hana and Dunamu have been building a blockchain-based remittance system on Dunamu's Giwa Chain network since late last year, with the goal of replacing SWIFT-based international transfers. A proof of concept completed in February showed the system could cut $1,000 transfer fees from 18,000 won down to potentially 1,000 won or less, with near-real-time settlement replacing the current two-to-three-day processing window.

That infrastructure also forms the foundation for a planned won-backed stablecoin ecosystem. The two companies intend to cooperate on stablecoin issuance, settlement, and circulation across South Korea's digital economy. In April, industrial conglomerate POSCO International joined as a third partner for live commercial testing of the remittance system in real trade payment environments.

The deal makes Hana Bank Dunamu's fourth-largest shareholder, sitting behind founder-chairman Song Chi-hyung, Vice Chairman Kim Hyeong-nyeon, and one institutional holder. Regulators in Korea have been pushing exchange operators to diversify away from concentrated controlling stakes, making Hana's entry well-timed from a governance standpoint as well.

The full breakdown of what this deal means for Upbit users, the won stablecoin race, and the broader Korea crypto infrastructure buildout is covered in detail at CryptoNewsLive.org. The analysis includes the regulatory filing data, the GIWA Chain technical architecture, and the POSCO trade settlement pilot context that most outlets are missing.

Visit CryptoNewsLive.org for the complete story.

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