Written by: Glendon, Techub News
The South Korean stablecoin market is about to welcome a true game changer.
On November 26, South Korean tech giant Naver announced that it would acquire Dunamu, the parent company of South Korea's largest cryptocurrency exchange Upbit, through its financial subsidiary Naver Financial in an all-stock transaction valued at $10.3 billion, with the deal expected to be completed this week.
The acquisition will be conducted through a stock swap, with a swap ratio set at 1:2.54. Specifically, Naver Financial plans to issue 87.56 million new shares, with a total value of approximately 15.13 trillion won (equivalent to $10.3 billion). Naver Financial's share price is set at 172,780 won (approximately $117.66), while Dunamu's share price is set at 439,252 won (approximately $299.14). Upon completion of the transaction, Naver Financial will become the wholly-owned parent company of Dunamu, creating a large commercial entity that integrates cryptocurrency and traditional financial services.
For Naver, this acquisition is highly significant. It will accelerate its strategic layout in the digital asset field while vigorously promoting the issuance of the won stablecoin. Importantly, this transaction will not only become the largest business merger in the global cryptocurrency industry this year but also signals that the won stablecoin market is about to undergo a structural transformation.
Naver's Financial Landscape Steadily Expanding
The news of Naver's acquisition of Dunamu was made public as early as the end of September. In fact, the cooperation between the two companies has a long history and has been deepening. In July of this year, Naver Pay collaborated with Dunamu to launch payment services using the won stablecoin and planned to form an alliance to introduce stablecoins; in September, Naver invested 68.6 billion won (approximately $46.79 million) to acquire 70% of the shares in Dunamu's securities trading platform, further integrating its financial resources to pave the way for a full acquisition.
Before analyzing the significance of this acquisition, it is necessary to understand the relevant situations of Naver and Dunamu.
Founded in 1999, Naver is South Korea's largest internet company, with businesses covering search, e-commerce, fintech, and more, often referred to as the "Korean version of Google." It owns the social platform LINE and the fintech company Naver Financial, with Naver Pay being one of South Korea's largest mobile payment platforms, boasting 30 million users.
In the third quarter of 2025, Naver's performance was outstanding, with revenue surpassing 3 trillion won for the first time, reaching 3.14 trillion won (approximately $2.32 billion), and all business divisions, including search platforms, e-commerce, fintech, content, and enterprise services, achieved sales growth; at the same time, the company's operating profit also reached a historic high of 570.6 billion won (approximately $423 million). This was mainly due to strong growth in e-commerce and fintech, with e-commerce sales reaching 985.5 billion won (approximately $672 million), a nearly 36% increase compared to the same period last year; and benefiting from a significant increase in transaction volume on Naver Pay, fintech sales also rose to 433.1 billion won, a year-on-year increase of 12.5%.
Dunamu's third-quarter performance was equally impressive, with revenue increasing by 35% to 385.9 billion won (approximately $263 million), and net profit growing by 145% to 239 billion won (approximately $163 million). Its subsidiary Upbit occupies over 80% of the market share in South Korea's exchange market. From integrating payment and cryptocurrency trading services to expanding securities trading business and acquiring Dunamu to enter the won stablecoin market, every step Naver has taken in recent months reflects its steady expansion in the financial landscape.
At the same time as the acquisition of Dunamu, Naver is also conducting an offline test related to its stablecoin business.
According to the Seoul Economic Daily, Naver Financial is launching a local stablecoin project wallet service in Busan, South Korea's second-largest city, developed in collaboration with the South Korean venture capital firm Hashed and the Busan Digital Asset Exchange (BDAN). Currently, Naver Financial has completed the development of the stablecoin wallet project and is in the final verification stage, with plans to launch next month.
This stablecoin wallet project is designed for residents and visitors of Busan. Users can exchange various fiat currencies for the local currency "Dongbaek Coin" and receive it back in the form of stablecoins. Currently, Busan Bank (BNK Busan Bank) has begun researching the transition of this currency from a prepaid points system to a stablecoin. Notably, Naver Financial plans to connect this wallet service with its existing cryptocurrency wallet service, Naver Pay Wallet. (Techub News Note: "Dongbaek Coin" is a regionally issued electronic currency based on blockchain technology by the Busan city government, primarily aimed at promoting the local economy and facilitating consumer spending, with an average monthly user count of about 1.5 million.)
In addition, while Naver is actively laying out its plans, the acquired Upbit is also strategizing a significant move. Upbit is considering an initial public offering (IPO) on Nasdaq, which may become its goal after the merger with Naver Financial is completed. This consideration further indicates Upbit's and Naver's intentions for global expansion. Through the IPO, the platform not only hopes to raise billions of dollars to support its won stablecoin development but also aims to break geographical limitations and attract institutional investors globally, thereby competing with international platforms like Coinbase.
In the context of the merger between Naver Financial and Dunamu, a pressing question arises: what specific impacts will the merger have on the South Korean stablecoin market?
Policy Shift, Market Competition, and Naver's Path to Transformation
It is important to clarify that, based on the development trends in the global market, the South Korean government's attitude towards the won stablecoin has shifted from early "restrictive prevention" to "regulatory guidance," opening up new development space. As early as April this year, the South Korean Financial Services Commission (FSC) listed stablecoin regulation as a core legislative task for this phase, planning to gradually establish a complete and rigorous legal framework for the issuance of stablecoins pegged to the won over the next three years.
The newly elected South Korean President Lee Jae-myung advocated for the prompt launch of the won stablecoin before taking office and actively promoted the introduction of related bills after assuming office. Just a week after his inauguration, the ruling Democratic Party of Korea submitted a draft of the "Digital Asset Basic Law" on June 10, proposing to significantly lower the minimum capital threshold for stablecoin issuing companies from the originally planned 5 billion won to 500 million won (approximately $368,000) to reduce market entry barriers and promote the entry of fintech and crypto startups.
Subsequently, several draft bills have been proposed, such as the Democratic Party of Korea's draft on the issuance and circulation of value-stable digital assets, which aims to institutionalize stablecoins and provide clear legal norms and protections; the Financial Services Commission plans to submit a stablecoin regulatory bill to the legislative body by the end of this year, among others.
From the essence of market competition, the competition in the stablecoin market is a fierce game of scale and ecology. Looking back at the development history of the global stablecoin market, USDT successfully built a solid moat with early support from exchanges like Bitfinex; USDC achieved rapid expansion through revenue-sharing agreements with platforms like Coinbase. This shows that exchange integration has become a key path for stablecoin issuance, and this logic is particularly evident in the South Korean market. Currently, USDT and USDC still dominate the South Korean market, while the won stablecoin has struggled to land due to regulatory compliance and other factors.
In this context, the core value of Naver's acquisition of Dunamu becomes increasingly apparent, primarily reflected in the synergy of traffic and scenarios. Upbit, as a top exchange holding up to 80% market share, can provide tens of trillions of won in initial issuance for the won stablecoin issued by Naver, laying the foundation for its rapid start in the market; at the same time, Naver has a large and diverse ecosystem, with Naver Pay covering over 50% of mobile payment users, along with e-commerce platforms and fintech services, enabling rapid penetration of stablecoins in various scenarios such as payment, consumption, and settlement. After the merger, they are expected to build a closed-loop ecosystem of "trading - payment - consumption." For example, users can directly use the won stablecoin in their Upbit accounts for settlement on Naver's e-commerce platform, significantly improving the efficiency of fund utilization.
The tight closed loop formed by traffic, financial infrastructure, and business models further strengthens Naver's competitiveness in the won stablecoin market, which is also a key reason why the industry generally believes that Naver's acquisition of Dunamu is likely to fundamentally change the landscape of South Korea's future stablecoin market.
However, the intensity of competition in the South Korean stablecoin market may exceed expectations. Although Naver's acquisition brings many advantages, there are several strong competitors in this market.
Naver's biggest competitor is South Korea's IT giant Kakao, whose digital banking division KakaoBank has already begun developing its own stablecoin pegged to the won and is hiring backend developers for blockchain services. Kakao also owns the mainstream mobile payment platform KakaoPay, which has 42 million members and an average monthly user count of 24 million.
In addition, eight major banks, including KB Kookmin Bank and Shinhan Bank, are also planning to establish joint ventures to issue trust-type or deposit-linked won stablecoins. At the same time, these banks are actively establishing partnerships with tech giants like Naver, Kakao, and Samsung Electronics, continuously expanding their teams to conduct internal testing, attempting to seize the initiative and occupy a favorable position in the future stablecoin market.
From this series of dynamics, it is not difficult to foresee that the competitive landscape of the South Korean stablecoin market may evolve from a simple "exchange competition" to an "ecological competition."
It is worth mentioning that the development pace of the won stablecoin market appears relatively slow within the landscape of the Asian stablecoin market. Taking Hong Kong as an example, it has taken a leading step in the regulation and development of the stablecoin market. Hong Kong officially implemented the "Stablecoin Ordinance" in August, and according to the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, as of the end of September, a total of 36 institutions had submitted applications for stablecoin licenses. Additionally, Japan's Financial Services Agency (FSA) has approved the launch of the country's first stablecoin pegged 1:1 to the yen, JPYC, which has been deployed on the Ethereum, Avalanche, and Polygon networks.
In contrast, despite the support for the won stablecoin from President Lee Jae-myung and the successive introduction of several draft bills, a formal stablecoin bill has yet to be passed in South Korea. This has left South Korean banks and other financial institutions largely in the preliminary research or concept validation stage regarding won stablecoin projects, making it difficult to advance substantial development quickly.
Moreover, Lee Ik-yun, the chairman of the Financial Services Commission of South Korea, has clearly stated that, in principle, payment-type stablecoins are not allowed to generate interest payments due to holding or usage. However, providing appropriate incentives for issuers is one of the key factors for the widespread application of stablecoins. For example, Tether and Circle generate substantial income by holding large amounts of collateral assets (such as U.S. Treasury bonds and repurchase agreements), and these profits, in turn, help them expand their application scenarios and partnerships. Without collateral income, the growth of stablecoins will be significantly restricted.
The won stablecoin advocated by the Bank of Korea adopts a deposit model, where these deposits do not generate interest and are not used for lending, being fully backed by custodial cash reserves. As a result, issuers lack the motivation to expand their issuance scale, which may also limit their utility and popularity.
That said, the intense competitive landscape of the won stablecoin market is already inevitable. Naver's acquisition is a bold demonstration of its financial ambitions. By acquiring Dunamu, Naver is accelerating its move towards a super ecosystem encompassing payments, shopping, finance, and cryptocurrency trading. Its goals extend beyond merely capturing the domestic market; it aims to build an independent digital financial infrastructure through the won stablecoin to challenge the dominance of dollar stablecoins in the country.
Today, according to The Block, Naver and Dunamu plan to invest 100 trillion won (approximately $6.8 billion) over the next five years to build next-generation financial infrastructure based on the integration of AI and blockchain. Dunamu President Song Chi-hyung stated that the three companies will co-build a system to create "a new global framework," with business scope extending from payment settlement to the entire financial sector. Additionally, Dunamu CEO Oh Kyung-seok reiterated that Naver and Dunamu will work on launching a stablecoin pegged to the won. These initiatives undoubtedly send a strong signal to the market: Naver is planning to initiate a transformative storm in the won stablecoin market with robust strength and firm determination.
Currently, in an environment where South Korean policies remain unclear and market competition is fierce, Naver, with its strategic layout and strong resource integration capabilities, has already become a dark horse. Whether it can become a "Tether-level" presence in the won stablecoin market and push the won stablecoin onto the global stage remains to be seen over time.
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