News linked to both this project and an event.
According to Tech in Asia, Naver plans to pursue an IPO for its subsidiary Naver Financial within five years after completing a share swap transaction with Dunamu—the operator of South Korea’s Upbit cryptocurrency exchange. Per the shareholders’ agreement signed by both parties, an IPO committee must be established within one year following the completion of the transaction; if the IPO is not completed within five years, the deadline may be extended up to seven years. The specific timing and structure of the IPO have yet to be determined and will depend on market conditions and regulatory developments. Notably, South Korea’s proposed Digital Asset Basic Act could impact the transaction structure, and regulators are also discussing a rule that would cap the maximum shareholding ratio for major shareholders of cryptocurrency exchanges at 20%. Meanwhile, Dunamu’s operating profit for 2025 declined 26.7% year-on-year to KRW 869.3 billion (approximately USD 591 million), primarily due to a slowdown in cryptocurrency trading volume.
Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire stated that Circle has expanded its collaboration with Dunamu—the operator of Upbit—to support the compliant adoption of digital assets, and broadened its partnership with Bithumb to strengthen stablecoin infrastructure and raise market awareness of stablecoins. Allaire noted that South Korea is rapidly advancing regulation for stablecoins and digital assets, and that local cryptocurrency adoption rates are high. During his time in Seoul, he also met with representatives from KakaoGroup, Coinone, Hashed, Shinhan Bank, KB Financial Group, and Woori Bank.
According to News1, Circle, the issuer of the stablecoin USDC, has signed a comprehensive Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Dunamu, the operator of Upbit—the largest virtual asset exchange in South Korea. The two parties will jointly advance digital asset education initiatives—including stablecoins—to enhance market participants’ access to information and bolster the credibility of South Korea’s digital asset ecosystem. Oh Kyung-seok, Dunamu’s representative, stated, “Collaborating with Circle—experienced in compliant operations—is highly significant.” Jeremy Allaire, Circle’s representative, emphasized, “South Korea is an exceptionally important market for digital asset innovation.”
According to DigitalAsset, a South Korean court ruled in favor of Dunamu—the operator of Upbit—in an administrative lawsuit it filed against the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU), overturning the FIU’s administrative penalty ordering a three-month partial suspension of Dunamu’s operations. The court found that, in the absence of specific implementation guidelines from regulatory authorities, Dunamu had taken certain measures—including requesting written commitments from customers and conducting internal monitoring. Although the court acknowledged that whether these measures were sufficient to prevent transactions with unregistered operators remained debatable, it held that Dunamu had fulfilled its reasonable obligations given the lack of clear regulatory guidance. Previously, the FIU had imposed the three-month partial business suspension on Upbit for inadequacies in its controls over transactions with unregistered operators.