Hana Bank, one of South Korea's largest commercial banks, has acquired a 1 trillion won ($670 million) stake in Dunamu, the operator behind Upbit — South Korea's dominant crypto exchange. Hana Financial Group confirmed Friday that Hana Bank's board approved the purchase of 228 million Dunamu shares from Kakao Investment.
The deal is a striking signal of where traditional Korean banking sees the next growth frontier. Upbit commands the lion's share of domestic crypto trading volume, and a bank of Hana's scale buying in at this price isn't a passive financial play — it's a strategic seat at the table of the country's largest digital-asset venue.
For the broader market, this follows a global pattern of legacy financial institutions moving from cautious observer to active stakeholder in crypto infrastructure. A $670M commitment from a top-tier commercial bank in one of Asia's most active…
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