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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 alternate, Upbit, is shifting nearer to a possible itemizing on Nasdaq.
- Experiences confirmed that Naver is getting ready to accumulate Upbit’s mum or dad firm, Dunamu, via a multibillion-dollar stock-swap merger.
- The deal, anticipated to obtain board approval on November 26, would mark one of the crucial vital company consolidations in Asia’s digital finance sector.
A multibillion-dollar stock-swap merger between Naver Monetary and Dunamu, Upbit’s mum or dad firm, is reportedly set for board approval on November 26. SE Every day first broke the story.
The KRW 20 trillion ($14.5 billion) deal would make Upbit an entirely owned Naver subsidiary and probably set the stage for a U.S. itemizing, echoing a wave of crypto corporations speeding into public markets.
With Dunamu’s income dwarfing Naver’s and minority shareholders pushing for a better valuation, the revised alternate ratio underscores simply how central Upbit has grow to be to Korea’s monetary infrastructure.
The 2 firms agreed to boost the alternate 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 received. 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 via 2024 and 2025, touching 80% in some months.
Information from the Monetary Supervisory Service confirmed the alternate processed 833 trillion received ($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 12 months, 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 underneath 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 usually are not one-size-fits-all whilst investor urge for food grows.
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