Samsung units take $408M stake in Upbit operator Dunamu: Report Samsung Securities, SDS and Card will buy 4% of Dunamu as Korean firms prepare for tokenized securities and stablecoin frameworks.
Samsung Securities, Samsung SDS and Samsung Card will acquire a combined 4% stake in Dunamu, the operator of South Korean crypto exchange Upbit, in a deal that expands Samsung affiliates’ exposure to the country’s digital asset market, local media reported
The three Samsung affiliates held board meetings on Thursday and approved the purchase of 1.39 million Dunamu shares held by Kakao affiliates for 612.8 billion won ($408 million), according to local reports from Yonhap News Agency and ZDNet Korea. Samsung Securities will acquire a 2% stake, while Samsung SDS and Samsung Card will each acquire 1%. The investment extends Samsung’s digital asset push weeks after Samsung SDS reportedly won a contract to build South Korea’s blockchain-based securities platform, placing Samsung affiliates across both regulated tokenized securities infrastructure and private-sector crypto exchange and payment rails.
The deal also follows another major Dunamu investment by a South Korean financial group. On May 15, Hana Financial Group said that it would acquire a 6.55% stake in Dunamu from Kakao Investment for more than $668 million, making it the Upbit operator’s fourth-largest shareholder. Samsung Securities plans to cooperate with Dunamu on tokenized securities issuance and distribution, as well as digital asset services, while Samsung SDS plans to combine its IT, artificial intelligence, cloud, security and data capabilities with Dunamu’s blockchain operations experience, according to the reports.