Three Samsung group affiliates are investing a combined 612.8 billion won ($408 million) in Dunamu, the operator of Korea’s largest cryptocurrency exchange Upbit. Samsung Securities, Samsung SDS and Samsung Card are acquiring stakes of 2%, 1% and 1% respectively. The shares were purchased from Kakao Investment, the arm of the social media firm which earlier this month sold a larger 6.55% stake to Hana Bank for just over 1 trillion won. The two transactions together represent Kakao’s complete exit from Dunamu, with the deal pricing implying a valuation of roughly 15.3 trillion won ($10.2 billion).
All three Samsung companies cited the expansion of digital assets including Korean won stablecoins as a motivation. But where the Hana deal was focused on stablecoins, cross border payments and blockchain-based remittances, the Samsung investment spans a wider set of ambitions and highlights the different capabilities each affiliate brings.
Samsung Securities plans to collaborate with Dunamu on security token issuance and distribution as well as virtual asset services. Under Korean securities law, crypto exchanges cannot intermediate tokenized securities, so Dunamu needs a licensed partner. Meanwhile, Samsung SDS, which recently won a contract with the Korea Securities Depository to develop a security token platform, adds infrastructure depth. The IT services arm plans to combine its technical capabilities with Dunamu’s blockchain expertise to build digital financial infrastructure for Korean institutions.
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