Dunamu Plans On-Chain Finance Expansion Beyond Upbit Exchange
The strategy would connect South Korean financial firms with global on-chain systems and consumer payment platforms, including a potential Naver Financial partnership.
Dunamu, the operator of South Korea’s largest virtual-asset exchange Upbit, plans to expand beyond exchange services by building on-chain financial infrastructure for domestic and global markets.
Oh Kyoung-suk, CEO of Dunamu, delivered the speech at approximately 12:25 a.m. ET (04:25 UTC) on Sept. 30 during Korea Blockchain Week 2026 in Seoul.
“We plan to build a common infrastructure where various financial players can participate,” Oh said.
The planned system would connect Web3 financial infrastructure with Web2 consumer payment platforms, potentially including Naver Financial, which operates Naver Pay. It would support banks, securities firms, payment companies and fintechs seeking to develop on-chain financial services without building every underlying function themselves.
Dunamu described the initiative as a medium- to long-term expansion aimed at domestic and international traditional financial institutions. No launch date, target countries, investment amount, revenue forecast or operating milestones were disclosed.
The strategy is tied to a proposed comprehensive share swap between Dunamu and Naver Financial. Under the proposal, Naver Financial would acquire 100% of Dunamu, subject to required approvals. The transaction values Dunamu at 15.1 trillion won and Naver Financial at 4.9 trillion won.
The transaction was scheduled to close Sept. 30, subject to regulatory and other required procedures. Regulatory approval was still pending that day, and completion had not been confirmed.
Payment expansion, asset tokenization and global expansion are strategic opportunities identified for the proposed combination. The proposed deal could bring together Dunamu’s digital-asset operations with Naver’s payment and platform capabilities.
Oh said South Korea could strengthen its position in global digital finance by improving access, connectivity and the ability to export digital-asset services.
“If the country secures accessibility, connectivity and export possibility (in the digital asset space) it could leap into an important financial hub,” he said.
“In the era of digital finance, South Korea will have an opportunity, similar to the likes of cities like New York, Hong Kong and Singapore,” Oh said.
