Mirae Asset has completed its acquisition of the local cryptocurrency exchange Korbit following regulatory approval. Company disclosures indicate that Mirae Asset will continue to acquire shares, increasing its stake from 92.06% to 97.15%. This signifies a further expansion of South Korea's large traditional financial groups into the regulated local digital asset trading market.
The shareholding ratio is planned to increase to 97.15%.
According to revised regulatory filings, Mirae Asset Management plans to acquire an additional 7.35 million shares of Korbit for approximately 7.2 billion won, or about US$5.32 million. Yonhap News Agency reports that this additional transaction is expected to be completed this Friday.
South Korean media previously reported that the Korea Fair Trade Commission approved the acquisition earlier this month, describing it as the first case in South Korea of a traditional financial group's affiliate acquiring a cryptocurrency exchange. Mirae Asset Consulting previously stated that the deal aims to find new growth opportunities around digital assets.
Korbit says customer service remains unchanged.
The company disclosed that the change in shareholding will not affect Korbit's daily operations. Korbit Co., Ltd. remains the operating entity, and users can still log in, trade, deposit, and withdraw funds normally without any additional action required.
Korbit also stated that customer deposits and virtual assets will continue to be held separately from company assets in accordance with South Korea's Virtual Asset User Protection Act. The platform further stated that the entity controlling and processing user personal information will remain unchanged.
The South Korean market is attracting more institutions to enter.
This deal comes as South Korea's regulated digital asset market is attracting more traditional financial institutions and global crypto companies. CoinGecko data shows that Korbit's spot trading volume in the past 24 hours was approximately $4.3 million, ranking fourth in the South Korean market; Upbit's trading volume during the same period was approximately $224.2 million, still significantly ahead.
Recently, several similar investments have emerged in the South Korean market. In May, OKX Ventures agreed to invest 80 billion won in the South Korean exchange Coinone, aiming to acquire a 19.6% stake, but this is still pending regulatory approval. Earlier, Binance also acquired the South Korean exchange Gopax.
In addition to exchange mergers and acquisitions, South Korean financial institutions are also expanding their digital asset businesses. Samsung Group announced earlier this year its plan to acquire a combined 4% stake in Dunamu, the parent company of Upbit; KB Kookmin Bank, Shinhan Bank, and NHN KCP, among others, have already participated in collaborations on tokenized deposits and stablecoin payment infrastructure.
Korbit has previously expanded its on-chain collaborations.
Prior to the equity change, Korbit had already been advancing blockchain ecosystem collaborations. In November 2024, Korbit partnered with Coinbase to connect to its Ethereum Layer 2 network, Base, enabling users to deposit and withdraw ETH between Ethereum and Base.
Korbit CEO Oh Se-jin stated at the time that the partnership would help the platform launch services more aligned with global industry trends and enhance its competitiveness. Coinbase, on the other hand, said that the two companies also planned to conduct development activities, hackathons, and educational community projects around the Base ecosystem.
