Hana Financial Group, the parent of Hana Bank is paying just over 1 trillion won ($666m) to acquire a 6.55% stake in Dunamu, the owner of Korea’s largest cryptocurrency exchange Upbit. Stablecoins and payments appear to be driving the deal, although the broader push towards tokenization is also a factor. The strategic investment builds on an existing relationship around cross border remittances established in late 2025.
Last month the two companies announced an initiative with POSCO International, aiming to connect Dunamu’s Layer 2 Giwa blockchain with Hana’s foreign exchange network and POSCO’s global supply chain. Both companies are involved with existing stablecoin initiatives, with Hana part of a multi-bank consortium and Dunamu working with popular Korean wallet Naver Pay. The Naver partnership provides important stablecoin distribution beyond the crypto community. This latter point is a critical part of the deal.
Last year Naver Financial, the fintech subsidiary of the internet giant, announced it would acquire Dunamu. The deal is still proceeding but has been delayed by a regulatory review. Hence, in future Hana’s holdings will become an investment in Naver Financial, which plans to have an IPO shortly after the merger.
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