Samsung Securities is planning to acquire a 2% stake in Dunamu, the operator of Upbit, with an estimated investment of around $203 million.

On May 28, Samsung Securities announced it will acquire a stake in Dunamu—operator of South Korea’s largest cryptocurrency exchange Upbit—to boost its digital financial competitiveness. This move comes as South Korea’s financial regulators recently hinted at relaxing the "Kimchi Premium" policy (a rule separating the traditional financial industry from virtual asset sectors), signaling an accelerated push toward integration between mainstream financial institutions and cryptocurrency exchanges. Following a board meeting held on the same day, Samsung Securities confirmed it will purchase 697,487 old shares of Dunamu, equivalent to approximately a 2.00% stake. The total transaction amount is roughly 3.637 trillion South Korean won (about $2.03 billion), accounting for around 3.8% of Samsung Securities’ total equity of 80.68 trillion won. The sellers of the old shares include Kakao Investment, Kakao Ventures, Kakao Young Entrepreneurs Fund, and the KIF-Kakao Woori Bank Tech-Finance Investment Fund. Samsung Securities’ acquisition price is set at approximately 43,925 won per share, the same as the share repurchase price in Dunamu’s prior all-stock transaction with Naver Financial. Based on this valuation metric, Dunamu’s overall worth is estimated at around 153 trillion won.