Samsung Affiliates Buy $408M Dunamu Stake From Kakao

Three Samsung affiliates agreed to buy a combined 4% stake in Dunamu, the operator of South Korea's largest cryptocurrency exchange Upbit, for 612.8 billion won ($408 million), the Korea Herald reported Thursday. Samsung Securities is taking 2% in a 306 billion-won cash deal, with Samsung Card and Samsung SDS each acquiring 1%, all purchased from affiliates of tech conglomerate Kakao. The transactions are scheduled to complete on June 19.

The sale marks Kakao's latest exit from Dunamu after a roughly 1.6 trillion-won ($1.2 billion-plus) push: it sold a 6.55% stake to Hana Bank about two weeks ago for around 1 trillion won, then followed with a 600 billion-won block to Hanwha Investment and Securities. In total, Kakao has now offloaded about $1.5 billion of Dunamu equity in less than a month — a decisive rotation away from a crypto holding that once anchored its fintech narrative.

Why it matters

For Kakao, the timing reflects a broader strategic reprioritisation. With its "Kanana" AI models and OpenAI partnerships, the group is steering capital toward artificial intelligence while the crypto market sits in a sustained bearish mood. Offloading roughly $1.5 billion of Dunamu inside a month is the clearest signal yet that crypto is a divestment, not a core bet, for one of Korea's biggest internet platforms.

For Samsung, the move is the opposite read. The country's largest conglomerate has been active in crypto since launching its digital asset wallet in 2019, and taking 4% of the venue running Upbit — by trading volume one of the largest crypto exchanges in Asia — is a deeper structural commitment than a partnership or product integration. It places a Samsung Securities-led group inside the cap table of the dominant Korean retail venue.

Market impact

The market read on the day was split. Samsung Securities shares fell 2.7% and Samsung SDS dropped 5%, while Samsung Card gained 0.21% and Kakao slipped 1% — investors weighing the cash deployment against exposure to a sector in a drawdown phase.