In the two days when the panic index fell to 22, the crypto market fell silent, yet someone was quietly signing a deal that could rewrite the compliance landscape in South Korea: According to a single source, one of South Korea's major brokerages, Korea Investment & Securities, is planning to acquire 20% of the local compliant crypto exchange Coinone, totaling 40% together with the global leading crypto exchange OKX, through a new stock issuance. The expected total price is between 500 billion to 600 billion Korean won, equivalent to approximately 332 million to 398 million USD, with the agreement signing date set for May 29, 2026. Contrary to the prevailing risk-averse sentiment, this is a typical "betting on the future amidst panic" transaction – the new stock issuance means that the operational rights of existing major shareholders will not be directly shaken, with Korea Investment & Securities and OKX stepping forward as significant shareholders, yet not immediately taking the wheel; the former is viewed as solidifying the ground for the issuance and circulation of security tokens (ST), while the latter aims to enter the South Korean compliance market through holding shares in Coinone, providing an additional buffer under local regulatory conditions. On May 27 and 28, the panic and greed index recorded 25 and 22 respectively, pinning market sentiment in the "extreme fear" range. At this time, traditional brokerages and leading CEXs chose to pour hundreds of billions of won into a local compliant exchange, essentially betting real money on the mid-to-long-term value of the Korean compliance track and the security token narrative.
The Panic Index Falls to 22, Funds Choose to Go Against the Tide
The panic and greed index fell to 25 on May 27 and further dipped to 22 on the 28th, according to a single source. For two days, it hovered in the "extreme fear" range. Amid such sentiment freeze, the market's instinctive reaction is to withdraw - trading willingness decreases, risk appetite collapses, and retail investors either have to stop losses during the drop or simply freeze their positions to watch from the sidelines, fearing another percentage point of fluctuation.
In this "everyone fears taking another step" rhythm, Korea Investment & Securities and OKX chose to take a step forward. The planned signing date for the agreement falls on May 29, and they intend to acquire 20% of Coinone's shares, totaling 40%, through new stock issuance while the panic index is still crawling close to the ground, with the expected price in the range of 500 billion to 600 billion Korean won, according to a single source. In the eyes of retail investors, this resembles "reverse investing at the lowest emotional point," but from the perspective of the two institutions, this money is not a bet on a short-term market turnaround but more like a ticket to enter the Korean compliance market and security token track, an advance positioning for the regulatory and business landscape in the coming years.
Korea Investment & Securities Bets on the Security Token Wave
For Korea Investment & Securities, acquiring 20% of Coinone shares feels more like a directional choice rather than a simple financial investment. As one of South Korea's major brokerages, it could have chosen to "maintain" through traditional paths in brokerage, self-operated, and investment banking businesses, but given the regulatory focus on security tokens (ST) as a key direction for innovation in the coming years, this established institution chose to position itself in the eye of the storm: clearly defining this investment as a layout to promote the issuance and circulation of ST-related businesses, embedding its familiar securities product design and compliance risk control capabilities into a scene that originally belonged to a crypto exchange.
From a business logic perspective, Coinone offers a locally compliant trading scene and user access that has already been proven viable, while Korea Investment & Securities excels in structural design around assets, information disclosure, and compliance oversight. By participating in a compliant exchange through shareholding, it does not have to personally build and operate an entirely new trading platform, but can still obtain a real market interface in the ST issuance and secondary circulation process. This approach aligns more closely with the traditional brokerage's consistent "light assets, heavy license cooperation" path: handing over the heaviest infrastructure to a locally trusted exchange while leveraging licenses, products, and institutional clients. This is also the core reason why Korea Investment & Securities is willing to pay a high price for the security token track.
OKX Circumvents Korean Regulatory Minefields with Coinone
For a global leading crypto exchange like OKX, South Korea has always been a "hard market to directly land in" - local regulators have always taken a cautious approach towards overseas platforms that lack local compliance qualifications, seldom allowing high-profile expansions, while tightening controls on foreign platforms’ business scope and traffic at any time. In this environment, continuing to rely solely on offshore platforms to reach South Korean users means enduring uncertainties like policy changes and traffic control over the long term; any misstep could trigger regulatory minefields and incur high compliance costs.
By acquiring a 20% stake in Coinone through new stock issuance, OKX effectively changes its "front-end identity" to an important shareholder of a local compliant exchange: without directly competing for licenses or rebuilding communication channels with regulators, it can leverage Coinone, a platform that has already established trust with Korean regulators and users, to indirectly share in local market growth and the future business scope of security tokens. More crucially, this 20% stake does not alter the existing major shareholders' operational structure, according to a single source; Coinone is still led by a local team, with OKX stepping back and participating in earnings through synergy in technology, products, and liquidity within the compliance framework. This arrangement, which maintains a stake without overstepping line boundaries, essentially carves out a secure yet flexible landing spot for itself on the Korean regulatory chessboard.
Coinone Holds Local Users and Compliance Assets
For Korea Investment & Securities and OKX, what makes Coinone truly valuable is not merely being a "shell company," but the compliance assets it has developed over years of operations in the local market: a user base accustomed to trading on Coinone and a trust and communication channel gradually established with regulators. As a compliant crypto exchange operating in South Korea, Coinone has already formed a relatively stable tacit understanding with local regulators regarding daily reviews, information submissions, and product rollout rhythms; this "invisible asset" does not manifest in a single figure within an evaluation model, yet it directly determines whether external capital can smoothly enter and how deep it can penetrate.
By introducing Korea Investment & Securities and OKX through new stock issuance while maintaining the existing operational rights of major shareholders, according to a single source, it guarantees continuity of Coinone's original governance structure and local decision-making pace, reducing regulatory sensitivity towards "control changes"; on the other hand, it embeds two fundamentally different resource parties at the equity level: Korea Investment & Securities represents regulated financial institution systems, expected to integrate the design, issuance, and circulation capabilities of compliant financial products like security tokens (ST); OKX comes from the camp of global leading crypto exchanges, opening broader international cooperation narratives for Coinone without touching local control. For Coinone, this is an "addition" overlaying traditional finance and global liquidity imagination on the existing local trust foundation. Whether it can truly connect local users, regulatory relationships, ST businesses, and international cooperation into a complete growth chain will become the key observation point following this transaction.
The Compliance Game Between Traditional Finance and Crypto Platforms in Korea
As the panic and greed index fell to 25 on May 27 and further to 22 in the extreme fear range on the 28th, Korea Investment & Securities and OKX chose to sign a new stock subscription agreement for Coinone on May 29, acquiring 20% stakes each for a total of approximately 500 billion to 600 billion Korean won. This contrarian move to "buy when others are fearful" essentially represents a joint game centered on the future narrative of security tokens and compliance in Korea. Traditional brokerages hope to enter ST issuance and circulation through Coinone's existing local compliance and user base, while OKX hedges against regulatory uncertainties by owning shares in a licensed local platform, preemptively positioning itself for potential license and regulatory reconstruction windows. Against the backdrop of extreme panic, such configurations seem more like securing seats for the market and regulatory cycles in the coming years rather than betting on short-term price rebounds. However, it must be acknowledged that this transaction still hangs on regulatory approval and subsequent delivery hooks. Large equity changes often require regulatory clearance, and specific regulatory details concerning ST and related business paths are yet to be fully clarified. Subsequently, the progress of regulatory approval, the pace of ST rule implementations, and Coinone's execution in integrating resources from both parties will determine whether this contrarian layout can truly realize its anticipated mid-to-long-term value.
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