South Korean cryptocurrency exchange Korbit has been acquired by a controlling stake in a company affiliated with Mirae Asset Group. This marks the first time a traditional South Korean financial group has gained a controlling stake in a domestic cryptocurrency exchange, reflecting the accelerated entry of large financial institutions into the digital asset market.
Mirae Asset's affiliated company holds 97.15% of the shares.
Korbit announced on Thursday that it has been incorporated into the Mirae Asset Group. According to the disclosure, Mirae Asset Consulting, an affiliate of Mirae Asset Group, currently holds a 97.15% stake in Korbit.
Founded in 2013, Korbit is one of the earliest domestic cryptocurrency exchanges in South Korea. Mirae Asset Group is a large South Korean financial group, with reported assets under management of approximately $1 trillion as of May this year.
User transactions and deposits/withdrawals are unaffected.
Korbit stated that this change in ownership will not affect existing users. Services such as login, trading, deposits, and withdrawals will continue to operate normally.
The exchange also stated that user deposits and virtual assets will continue to be held separately from company assets, an arrangement consistent with South Korea's Virtual Asset User Protection Act. The handling of user personal information will also remain unchanged, and users will not need to take any additional action.
Traditional financial institutions are accelerating their expansion into crypto businesses.
This transaction reflects how traditional Asian financial institutions are entering the digital asset market by acquiring existing licensed platforms. In South Korea, retail crypto trading is active, with trading volumes sometimes comparable to the stock market, making holding a compliant exchange license a strategically valuable asset.
Similar moves have occurred in other Asian markets. The report mentions that Japanese financial group SBI previously agreed to acquire Tokyo-based cryptocurrency exchange Bitbank and plans to acquire a majority stake in Singapore-based trading platform Coinhako.
Additional information:CoinDesk stated that it has sought further responses from Mirae Asset Group and Korbit regarding this matter.
