South Korean financial heavyweight Mirae Asset Group is in advanced talks to acquire Korbit, one of the country’s longest‑standing cryptocurrency exchanges, in a deal potentially valued at around $100 million. The Chosun Daily, the country’s largest and most influential newspaper, confirmed the reports on Sunday.
Mirae Asset Consulting, a non‑financial subsidiary of the broader Mirae Asset financial conglomerate, is negotiating the planned transaction. To demonstrate their commitment to expanding their operations with this acquisition, sources highlighted that the team has already exchanged signatures on a memorandum of understanding with the major shareholders of Korbit.
Mirae Asset Group seeks to expand its presence in South Korea with the Korbit acquisition
Korbit, founded in 2014, is South Korea’s fourth-largest cryptocurrency trading platform. The exchange is majority-owned by NXC and its affiliate, Simple Capital Futures (approximately 60.5%), with SK Square holding a 31.5% stake. The prospective deal would see Mirae Asset begin its investment by purchasing these stakes before potentially consolidating full control, according to sources.
Korbit currently holds a full operating license under the country’s stringent regulatory framework. This feature is drawing interest from traditional financial groups seeking a compliant entry into the digital assets market. These steps adopted by the company position it as an attractive choice for significant financial groups seeking to make large investments in regulated digital assets.
However, data from CoinGecko sparked debates in the crypto industry after highlighting that Korbit’s share of the cryptocurrency trading market in South Korea is relatively small compared to its rivals.
To support this claim, reports disclosed that Korbit only managed to generate $5.75 million out of approximately $1.21 billion in total trading volume recorded across six Korea-based exchanges over the last 24 hours. Ideally, Korbit’s figure represented less than 1% of all trading activity.
On the other hand, Upbit, South Korea’s largest and leading cryptocurrency exchange, secured the top position in the market with a daily volume of over $768 million. The next in line is Bithumb, with approximately $298 million, followed by Coinone with nearly $135 million.
Meanwhile, analysts acknowledge that Mirae Asset Group’s move demonstrates a growing trend in the crypto industry whereby significant firms in South Korea tend to expand their operations through acquisitions.
This trend is also evident in Naver Financial’s intention to acquire Dunamu, a major South Korean financial technology company known for operating Upbit, through a stock-swap agreement worth approximately 15.1 trillion won, equivalent to about $10.3 billion. Notably, this news comes just after reports leaked information regarding Mirae Asset Group’s discussion to acquire Korbit.
Under this deal, Naver Financial is expected to establish 87.56 million new shares for Dunamu’s shareholders. This move will change Dunamu to become a fully owned subsidiary.
Naver Financial considers securing an acquisition deal
Regarding Naver Financial’s acquisition deal, reports have highlighted that shareholders from both firms will vote on the agreement on May 22, 2026. The share exchange, on the other hand, is scheduled to take place on June 30. Nonetheless, sources mentioned that this deal still requires approval from regulators.
Interestingly, this is not the first time the acquisition deal has been announced. Back in September, Naver Financial made the agreement public. At that time, it was announced that Naver Financial would immediately launch a stablecoin initiative backed by the Korean won, as well as other digital finance sector initiatives, once the acquisition is completed.
Meanwhile, as Naver Financial prepares for the completion of the acquisition, the firm also prepares for the full implementation of new regulations set to be implemented by authorities in South Korea, particularly for cryptocurrency exchanges.
This new rule will hold the exchanges responsible for losses incurred, much like regular banks. The authorities arrived at this decision this month after Upbit recently encountered security issues.
Following this update, the Financial Services Commission (FSC) stated that it was exploring suitable new guidelines to ensure exchanges compensate clients in the event of any losses incurred due to a hacking incident or technical issues, even if the exchange is declared faultless.
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