Upbit, the buying and selling platform that routinely eats up greater than 70% of South Korea’s crypto quantity, is inching towards a future Nasdaq debut due to a company tie-up involving tech titan Naver.
Abstract
- South Korea’s largest cryptocurrency trade, Upbit, is transferring nearer to a possible itemizing on Nasdaq.
- Stories confirmed that Naver is getting ready to accumulate Upbit’s mother or father firm, Dunamu, by way of a multibillion-dollar stock-swap merger.
- The deal, anticipated to obtain board approval on November 26, would mark one of the vital important company consolidations in Asia’s digital finance sector.
A multibillion-dollar stock-swap merger between Naver Monetary and Dunamu, Upbit’s mother or father firm, is reportedly set for board approval on November 26. SE Each day first broke the story.
The KRW 20 trillion ($14.5 billion) deal would make Upbit a completely owned Naver subsidiary and doubtlessly set the stage for a U.S. itemizing, echoing a wave of crypto corporations speeding into public markets.
With Dunamu’s earnings dwarfing Naver’s and minority shareholders pushing for the next valuation, the revised trade ratio underscores simply how central Upbit has turn out to be to Korea’s monetary infrastructure.
The 2 firms agreed to lift the trade ratio to roughly 1:3.3–3.4 in favor of Dunamu, following minority shareholders’ complaints that earlier proposals undervalued the Upbit operator.
Dunamu posted KRW 1.186 trillion in working revenue on the finish of 2024—almost 10 occasions Naver Monetary’s 103.5 billion gained. It boasts $165 million internet revenue within the third quarter of 2025, up 300% year-over-year.
Why it issues
A merger would give Naver management over greater than 70% of South Korea’s crypto buying and selling quantity. Upbit’s dominance has remained unshaken by way of 2024 and 2025, touching 80% in some months.
Information from the Monetary Supervisory Service confirmed the trade processed 833 trillion gained ($642 billion) in transactions within the first half of 2025 alone.
The merger additionally comes as crypto firms rush to capitalize on resurgent public-market curiosity.
Galaxy Digital shifted its itemizing to Nasdaq earlier this yr, and Kraken confidentially filed an S-1 for a deliberate 2026 providing. Circle, Gemini, Bullish, and Determine have already listed in New York, whereas Grayscale introduced on November 12 that it plans to go public below the ticker “GRAY.”
Upbit rival Bithumb has spun off non-core divisions and tapped Samsung Securities to steer its upcoming KOSDAQ itemizing, whereas additionally weighing a attainable twin itemizing on Nasdaq.
Nonetheless, the general public markets aren’t for everybody. Phantom Pockets’s CEO has confirmed the corporate has no plans to launch a local blockchain or go public, underscoring that market exits are usually not one-size-fits-all at the same time as investor urge for food grows.
