By Kwanwoo Jun
Hana Bank will buy a roughly $670 million stake in crypto-exchange operator Dunamu, marking the largest single investment by a South Korean bank in digital-asset entities.
The commercial lender will buy 2.284 million shares, or a 6.55% stake, in Dunamu from an affiliate of internet company Kakao on June 15 for 1.003 trillion won, equivalent to $672.5 million, parent Hana Financial Group said in a statement Friday.
The deal, also confirmed by Kakao in a regulatory filing early Friday, would make Hana Bank the fourth largest shareholder in Dunamu, operator of South Korea's largest cryptocurrency exchange, Upbit.
Hana Financial Group chairman and chief executive Ham Young-joo said the planned purchase is "a strategic decision to accelerate financial innovation based on digital assets" for the group, which has already agreed with Dunamu to jointly develop new business models.
The two sides have been developing a blockchain-based overseas remittance service that recently completed technical verification, according to Hana.
With a major financial company set to become a key shareholder, Dunamu is likely to strengthen its lead in South Korea's digital-asset industry.
South Korea's largest internet-platform company, Naver, said in November that its fintech affiliate, Naver Financial, and Dunamu had agreed to merge through a stock swap, subject to approval by shareholders and financial regulators.
Naver said each Dunamu share would be exchanged for 2.54 shares of Naver Financial under the agreement.
Write to Kwanwoo Jun at kwanwoo.jun@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
05-14-26 2337ET
