Samsung Group Takes 4% Stake in Upbit Parent as Korean Securities Token Market Opens

Three Samsung affiliates have acquired a combined 4 per cent stake in Dunamu, operator of South Korea’s largest cryptocurrency exchange Upbit, for 612.8 billion won (408 million dollars). Samsung Securities purchased 2 per cent, while Samsung SDS and Samsung Card each took 1 per cent, buying the shares from Kakao Investment at a valuation implying Dunamu is worth roughly 15.3 trillion won. The transaction follows Hana Bank’s acquisition of a 6.55 per cent stake earlier this month, completing Kakao’s full exit from the exchange operator.

The deal centres on securities tokenisation rather than stablecoin infrastructure alone. Under Korean securities law, crypto exchanges cannot intermediate tokenised securities, so Dunamu requires a licensed broker partner; Samsung Securities fills that role and plans to collaborate on security token issuance and distribution alongside virtual asset services. Samsung SDS, which recently won a contract with the Korea Securities Depository to develop a security token platform, will combine its infrastructure capabilities with Dunamu’s blockchain layer to build institutional digital financial infrastructure. All three buyers cited the expansion of digital assets, including Korean won stablecoins, as a driver, but the securities tokenisation agenda is the structural pivot.

The pricing and partner mix suggest Korea’s regulated security token market is moving from consultation to build-out. Dunamu gains the licensed intermediary and institutional infrastructure it cannot provide alone, while Samsung group secures a stake in the largest on-ramp and positions its brokerage and IT services arms at the centre of the tokenised securities stack. The exclusion of exchanges from securities intermediation is forcing exchange operators and traditional finance into formal joint ventures rather than parallel infrastructure.