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South Korean AI chip company FuriosaAI completes 820 billion won Series D funding round, with a company valuation of approximately 3.8 trillion won.
Existing shareholders collectively made follow-on investments totaling 170 billion KRW, with Nextrans contributing an additional 48 billion KRW and the Korea Development Bank adding 30 billion KRW, while NAVER, DSC Investment, and KDB Capital also participated in the round. The Korea Export-Import Bank selected FuriosaAI for its first direct investment in a startup. UAMCO invested 40 billion KRW, making it the largest among new domestic investors. The funds will be allocated to the global commercialization of the second-generation AI chip RNGD and the third-generation AI accelerator co-developed with Broadcom.
Upbit operator Dunamu responds to Nasdaq listing rumors: Confirms engagement with US SEC and CFTC, plans to establish IPO committee
Odaily News: Dunamu, the operator of Korean cryptocurrency exchange Upbit, has responded to rumors of a US listing, stating that the company has indeed been in contact with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). However, it has not yet confirmed plans for a US listing, nor has it converted its financial reporting standards to U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (US GAAP).Dunamu stated that it is currently working with Naver Financial to complete a share swap by December 31. The two companies are valued at 15 trillion KRW and 5 trillion KRW respectively, with a swap ratio of 1 share of Dunamu for approximately 2.54 shares of Naver Financial. Upon completion of the transaction, both parties plan to establish an IPO committee within one year and proceed with listing efforts.Market observers believe Nasdaq could be a potential listing venue, mainly because Naver is already listed on the Korean exchange. If the two companies are subsequently listed on a secondary exchange in Korea as subsidiaries, they may face regulatory restrictions on "parent-subsidiary dual listings." If Dunamu ultimately pursues a US listing, it may do so via American Depositary Receipts (ADRs). The Korean legal entity and Upbit business would remain intact, and services such as KRW deposits and withdrawals for users are not expected to be directly impacted. (Etoday)
Goldman Sachs: Samsung shareholder returns fall short of expectations, FCF expansion supports valuation repair
According to Chaoxiang Research, Goldman Sachs's August 23 research report notes that Samsung Electronics announced a projected shareholder return pool for 2026 ranging from KRW 90 trillion to KRW 110 trillion (median approximately KRW 100 trillion), which is lower than the KRW 150 trillion market expectation previously reported by the media. Goldman Sachs maintains its Buy rating with a common stock price target of KRW 490,000, implying a 74% upside from the current share price. The company plans to distribute cash dividends of approximately KRW 30 trillion in the third quarter, with the remainder to be implemented following confirmation in the January 2027 financial results. Goldman Sachs calculates that Samsung's cumulative free cash flow (FCF) from 2024 to 2026 will be approximately KRW 270 trillion. Based on a 50% payout ratio, the 2026 return will be about KRW 106 trillion, falling at the upper end of the guidance range. Goldman Sachs projects that the return pools for 2027 and 2028 will increase to KRW 179 trillion and KRW 232 trillion, respectively, while raising its 2026, 2027, and 2028 EPS forecasts by 1%, 7%, and 11%. At its current share price, Samsung trades at an expected 2027 price-to-book (P/B) ratio of 1.7x and a 2028 P/B ratio of 1.2x, with corresponding ROE reaching 40% to 50%. Goldman Sachs considers the risk-reward ratio to be attractive.
Anthropic's annualized revenue exceeds $65 billion, up more than 7x since the end of last year
Odaily News: As Anthropic prepares for an IPO, its annualized revenue run rate had surpassed $65 billion (approximately 92 trillion KRW) as of the end of July, representing a more than sevenfold increase from the end of last year. The figure was disclosed in regular operating data reports shared with major investors.Anthropic's full-year 2025 revenue has already exceeded $9 billion, reaching $47 billion in May this year. Preliminary second-quarter revenue surpassed $11.5 billion, compared to $787 million in the same period last year—a roughly 15-fold increase. Adjusted operating profit is expected to turn profitable.Anthropic has hired Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs as lead underwriters for its IPO, with JPMorgan also participating in the transaction. Following its latest funding round, the company is valued at $965 billion, one of the highest valuations among private companies. (ETNews SW)
AI Database Company GraphAI Completes $12 Million Series A Funding, Led by K2 Investment Partners
Odaily News: South Korean enterprise-grade AI data infrastructure company GraphAI has announced the completion of a 17 billion KRW (approximately $12 million) Series A funding round, led by K2 Investment Partners, with participation from A-Ventures and Jiyu Investment, as well as Quad Ventures, Kiwoom Investment, and We Ventures, who previously participated in the Pre-A round. To date, the company's cumulative funding has reached 20.6 billion KRW (approximately $14.7 million).Founded in 2022 by Min-Soo Kim, a professor at KAIST's School of Computing, GraphAI aims to provide next-generation data infrastructure for enterprise AI applications by integrating graph database, vector database, and relational database capabilities. Its Akasic platform offers an integrated solution covering enterprise data connectivity, ingestion, transformation, AI inference, and an intelligent agent (Agentic AI) execution environment. (Thelec)
Korean stock market's semiconductor main line takes a pause, sparking sector rotation as non-semiconductor industries undergo value revaluation
Odaily News: Data released today by the Korea Exchange shows that heavyweight semiconductor stocks have recently pulled back, with capital beginning to rotate toward non-semiconductor sectors. From August 3 to 7, Samsung Electronics fell 12.00%, SK Hynix dropped 17.23%, and the KOSPI index declined 5.10% over the same period; however, sectors such as metals and machinery equipment rose against the trend.Currently, the combined market capitalization of Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix as a share of the KOSPI has fallen from 58.9% on June 25 to 46.3% on August 7. Meanwhile, the KOSPI's net profit forecast for this year, excluding these two companies, has been revised upward from 219.2 trillion KRW last week to 222.3 trillion KRW, with improving market earnings further supporting the valuation recovery of non-semiconductor sectors. KB Securities researcher Kim Min-kyu stated that the current "semiconductor pause, other sectors rising" pattern is closer to previously overlooked industries being revalued while the leading sector takes a breather, rather than a simple broad-based expansion of the market rally. (FNNews)
Bithumb's Administrative Lawsuit Holds First Hearing, Citing Regulatory Gap for Transfers Under 1 Million Won
According to reports by Korean media outlet Digital Asset, the Second Division of the Seoul Administrative Court held its first hearing on Oct. 22 regarding the administrative lawsuit between Bithumb and Korea's Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU). The FIU found that Bithumb conducted 45,772 transfers with 18 unregistered crypto asset operators between August 28, 2022, and April 3, 2025, and accordingly issued penalties, which included a partial suspension restricting new customers from transferring crypto assets externally for six months. Bithumb stated during the hearing that transfers of 1 million KRW or above are subject to the "travel rule," and since unregistered operators have been removed from the list of eligible exchanges, there were zero non-compliant outbound transfers in that tier. Transfers under 1 million KRW were not covered by the travel rule at the time; thus, the platform had no legal basis to demand that customers provide recipient exchange details, nor did regulators specify clear blocking protocols. Bithumb also noted that after implementing the Chainalysis API, only about 2% of initially unverifiable addresses were later identified as FIU-designated unregistered operators. Enforcing blanket blocks would disrupt the remaining 98% of legitimate transactions, potentially exposing the platform to customer compensation claims. Bithumb further argued that the six-month penalty is excessively severe and practically amounts to banning the platform from acquiring new customers. The company also challenged the FIU's criteria for classifying overseas operators and the grounds for the...
Shinhan Bank Completes Stablecoin Medical Expense Settlement Pilot with KSNET
According to Yonhap News Agency, Shinhan Bank, in collaboration with Korean payment service provider KSNET, has successfully completed a pilot project demonstrating the payment and settlement process for foreign patients paying medical expenses with stablecoins, with Korean healthcare institutions receiving funds in Korean won. Announced on October 21, the pilot was conducted as a limited trial at a medical facility in Seoul, utilizing a streamlined overseas stablecoin payment service. Under this process, after foreign patients make payments using stablecoins, a regulated overseas entity converts the assets into fiat currency and remits them to South Korea. KSNET then settles the payment with the healthcare institution in Korean won. Through this initiative, Shinhan Bank evaluated the feasibility of integrating the financial infrastructure necessary for domestic receipt processing and KRW settlement.
Injective partners with BDACS to introduce the Korean Won stablecoin KRW1 into the RWA ecosystem.
According to The Block, Injective has signed a memorandum of understanding with Korean digital asset custodian BDACS, planning to designate its KRW stablecoin KRW1 as the exclusive KRW settlement asset for RWA and tokenized asset activities on the Injective network. Both parties aim to enable tokenized assets to be traded and settled directly in KRW on Injective without routing through USD stablecoins. The minting and redemption of KRW1 will be exclusively available to approved institutional partners and will still require regulatory approval.
South Korean crypto exchange operating profit fell 78% in the first half of the year, with average daily trading volume down 44% month-on-month.
According to Cointelegraph, data from the Korea Financial Intelligence Unit (KoFIU) shows that operating profits of crypto exchanges in South Korea fell by 78% in the first half of 2026 compared to the previous six-month period, while exchange sales declined by 41% over the same timeframe. Market trading activity also cooled noticeably, with the average daily trading volume at domestic virtual asset exchanges dropping by 44% compared to the prior period. The total market capitalization of crypto assets decreased by 33%, KRW-denominated customer deposits fell by 35%, but the number of accounts eligible for trading saw a slight increase of 0.4%. The survey covered 26 registered virtual asset service providers, including 17 exchange operators and 9 custodian and wallet service providers, with data spanning from January 1 to June 30 this year.
South Korean crypto exchanges' operating profit fell 78% in the first half of 2026
Odaily News: Data from the Korea Financial Intelligence Unit (KoFIU) shows that in the first half of 2026, the operating profit of South Korean cryptocurrency exchanges fell 78% compared with the previous six months. Over the same period, average daily trading volume dropped 44%, total market value declined 33%, KRW deposits fell 35%, and exchange revenue decreased 41%.The survey covered 26 registered virtual asset service providers, including 17 exchange operators and 9 custody and wallet service providers, with the reporting period from January 1 to June 30, 2026. The number of accounts eligible for trading rose slightly by 0.4% over the same period. (Cointelegraph)
South Korea's Financial Services Commission Plans to Refine Tokenized Securities Rules, Capping Annual Net Purchases for Individual Investors at 100 Million KRW per OTC Platform
According to Cointelegraph, South Korea's Financial Services Commission (FSC) has proposed supporting regulatory rules for tokenized securities, allowing stocks, bonds, funds, and certain fractional investment securities to be issued and traded via tokenization. Issuers of tokenized securities that directly manage client accounts must meet a minimum capital requirement of 4 billion South Korean won (approximately $2.8 million) and must be equipped with dedicated compliance and technical personnel. The relevant rules are scheduled to take effect on February 4, 2027.
Korean Crypto Exchange Prabang Hacked, Loses Approx. 100 Million Won, Services Suspended
According to Yonhap News Agency, South Korean crypto asset exchange Prabang reported on October 26 that it suffered an intrusion involving unauthorized external access, and has filed a report with relevant authorities. The exchange detected anomalous withdrawals from its hot wallet on October 24, identified a security vulnerability upon activating its emergency response protocol, and preliminarily estimated losses at approximately 100 million KRW (around $70,000). To safeguard customer assets, Prabang has suspended services and pledged to fully compensate users with corporate funds once the losses are verified.
Starting December 3, cross-border crypto transfers must be reported transaction by transaction; South Korea's new rules affect over 1.27 million users
Odaily reports: South Korea's amended Foreign Exchange Transactions Act will take effect on December 3. According to the Bank of Korea's manual, domestic virtual asset service providers must report cross-border transfers in and out of crypto assets on a transaction-by-transaction basis by 11:00 AM on the next business day after the transaction is completed, including the transaction time, coin type and quantity, KRW-equivalent amount, fees, and information on both sender and recipient. Service providers must also submit a monthly balance report, FX1021, by 5:30 PM on the 10th of the following month, reporting each user's month-end holdings, KRW-equivalent balance, and total cross-border inflows and outflows for the month, covering dormant accounts, delisted coins, and staked assets; direct transfers between personal wallets are not within the reporting scope. The retroactive scope is based on users who have at least one cross-border transfer record since the Virtual Asset User Protection Act took effect on July 19, 2024, involving a total of 1,272,878 people across the five major exchanges. The Bank of Korea said the data will be shared with the National Tax Service, Korea Customs Service, Financial Supervisory Service, and Financial Intelligence Unit; the central bank is considering relaxing the retroactive starting point to December 3, with the final scope to be determined in November.
Upbit will list the BMT/KRW trading pair, with trading opening today at 11:00.
According to Upbit's official announcement, Upbit will list the Bubblemaps (BMT)/KRW trading pair today at 11:00 Beijing Time, supporting deposits and withdrawals on the Solana network. According to the announcement, buy orders will be restricted for the first 5 minutes after trading opens, and sell orders more than 10% below the previous day's closing price will also be restricted; only limit orders will be supported for approximately the first 2 hours. If liquidity is insufficient, the trading opening time may be delayed.
Bithumb's Administrative Lawsuit Holds First Hearing, Citing Regulatory Gap for Transfers Under 1 Million Won
According to reports by Korean media outlet Digital Asset, the Second Division of the Seoul Administrative Court held its first hearing on Oct. 22 regarding the administrative lawsuit between Bithumb and Korea's Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU). The FIU found that Bithumb conducted 45,772 transfers with 18 unregistered crypto asset operators between August 28, 2022, and April 3, 2025, and accordingly issued penalties, which included a partial suspension restricting new customers from transferring crypto assets externally for six months. Bithumb stated during the hearing that transfers of 1 million KRW or above are subject to the "travel rule," and since unregistered operators have been removed from the list of eligible exchanges, there were zero non-compliant outbound transfers in that tier. Transfers under 1 million KRW were not covered by the travel rule at the time; thus, the platform had no legal basis to demand that customers provide recipient exchange details, nor did regulators specify clear blocking protocols. Bithumb also noted that after implementing the Chainalysis API, only about 2% of initially unverifiable addresses were later identified as FIU-designated unregistered operators. Enforcing blanket blocks would disrupt the remaining 98% of legitimate transactions, potentially exposing the platform to customer compensation claims. Bithumb further argued that the six-month penalty is excessively severe and practically amounts to banning the platform from acquiring new customers. The company also challenged the FIU's criteria for classifying overseas operators and the grounds for the...
Upbit will suspend digital asset deposits and withdrawals exceeding 1 million KRW between itself and BitMEX.
According to an official announcement, due to BitMEX terminating its connection to the Travel Rule solution VerifyVASP, Upbit will suspend digital asset deposits and withdrawals of 1,000,000 KRW or more between itself and BitMEX starting October 16, 2026. The specific arrangements are as follows: • Withdrawals to BitMEX: Suspended as of September 23. Withdrawals via OpenAPI are also unavailable. • Manual deposits from BitMEX to Upbit: Deposits of 1,000,000 KRW or more will be suspended at 14:00 on December 18. Assets of 1,000,000 KRW or more arriving after this time must be retrieved through Upbit's refund process. • Deposits below 1,000,000 KRW: Supported as usual.
Upbit Will List NMR/KRW and NMR/USDT Trading Pairs
According to Upbit's official announcement, Upbit will add new KRW and USDT trading pairs for Numeraire (NMR), with trading expected to officially open at 19:45 Beijing Time tonight, supporting Ethereum network deposits and withdrawals.
Korean Crypto Exchange Prabang Hacked, Loses Approx. 100 Million Won, Services Suspended
According to Yonhap News Agency, South Korean crypto asset exchange Prabang reported on October 26 that it suffered an intrusion involving unauthorized external access, and has filed a report with relevant authorities. The exchange detected anomalous withdrawals from its hot wallet on October 24, identified a security vulnerability upon activating its emergency response protocol, and preliminarily estimated losses at approximately 100 million KRW (around $70,000). To safeguard customer assets, Prabang has suspended services and pledged to fully compensate users with corporate funds once the losses are verified.
WEMIX Stablecoin Hacked, Approximately $6.25 Million WEMIX$ Abnormally Outflowed
According to "Digital Assets", South Korean blockchain platform WEMIX released an official announcement on July 27, acknowledging a security incident involving its stablecoin WEMIX$ (WEMIX Dollar) smart contract. The incident occurred at 6:18 PM on July 26, when the owner permissions of the WEMIX$ smart contract were hijacked, resulting in approximately $6.25 million (approximately 87 million KRW) worth of WEMIX$ being abnormally minted and transferred to external addresses. WEMIX stated that it has identified the addresses suspected of being used in the attack and is conducting on-chain tracking, while collaborating with major exchanges and blockchain security agencies to monitor the flow of stolen assets, and will cooperate with law enforcement agencies if necessary.
South Korea’s Top 5 Cryptocurrency Exchanges Have Experienced 57 Hacking and System Incidents Over the Past Six Years, with Total Compensation Amounting to Approximately $5.1 Million
South Korea’s top five cryptocurrency exchanges experienced a total of 57 hacking incidents and system failures between 2020 and April 2026, resulting in cumulative compensation of approximately 7 billion KRW (about USD 5.1 million).
Upbit to List NIL/KRW Trading Pair
according to an official announcement, Upbit will list the NIL/KRW trading pair.
Upbit will list the BMT/KRW trading pair, with trading opening today at 11:00.
According to Upbit's official announcement, Upbit will list the Bubblemaps (BMT)/KRW trading pair today at 11:00 Beijing Time, supporting deposits and withdrawals on the Solana network. According to the announcement, buy orders will be restricted for the first 5 minutes after trading opens, and sell orders more than 10% below the previous day's closing price will also be restricted; only limit orders will be supported for approximately the first 2 hours. If liquidity is insufficient, the trading opening time may be delayed.
Bithumb to list AXIS/KRW trading pair
According to an official announcement, South Korean cryptocurrency exchange Bithumb will list the AXIS/KRW trading pair for Axis Robotics, scheduled to officially open trading at 11:00 Beijing Time today.
Bithumb Will List AT/KRW Trading Pair
According to the official announcement, Bithumb will list the AT/KRW trading pair.
Upbit Will List AXIS/KRW, AXIS/BTC and AXIS/USDT Trading Pairs
According to official announcements, Upbit will list AXIS/KRW, BTC, and USDT trading pairs.
47 days after launch, Bithumb AI surpassed 500,000 cumulative users. The service is powered by Surf, with 95% of high-volume traders already using it.
According to Korean media reports, Bithumb AI, an AI investment information service launched by South Korean cryptocurrency exchange Bithumb, surpassed 500,000 cumulative users in just 47 days since launch, averaging around 80,000 daily users. Data shows that approximately 70% of Bithumb's trading users have used the service, with a utilization rate of up to 95% among users with monthly transaction volumes exceeding 100 million KRW (approximately $75,000).
Related news
Korean Crypto Exchange Prabang Hacked, Loses Approx. 100 Million Won, Services Suspended
According to Yonhap News Agency, South Korean crypto asset exchange Prabang reported on October 26 that it suffered an intrusion involving unauthorized external access, and has filed a report with relevant authorities. The exchange detected anomalous withdrawals from its hot wallet on October 24, identified a security vulnerability upon activating its emergency response protocol, and preliminarily estimated losses at approximately 100 million KRW (around $70,000). To safeguard customer assets, Prabang has suspended services and pledged to fully compensate users with corporate funds once the losses are verified.
South Korean AI chip company FuriosaAI completes 820 billion won Series D funding round, with a company valuation of approximately 3.8 trillion won.
Existing shareholders collectively made follow-on investments totaling 170 billion KRW, with Nextrans contributing an additional 48 billion KRW and the Korea Development Bank adding 30 billion KRW, while NAVER, DSC Investment, and KDB Capital also participated in the round. The Korea Export-Import Bank selected FuriosaAI for its first direct investment in a startup. UAMCO invested 40 billion KRW, making it the largest among new domestic investors. The funds will be allocated to the global commercialization of the second-generation AI chip RNGD and the third-generation AI accelerator co-developed with Broadcom.
Upbit to List NIL/KRW Trading Pair
according to an official announcement, Upbit will list the NIL/KRW trading pair.
Starting December 3, cross-border crypto transfers must be reported transaction by transaction; South Korea's new rules affect over 1.27 million users
Odaily reports: South Korea's amended Foreign Exchange Transactions Act will take effect on December 3. According to the Bank of Korea's manual, domestic virtual asset service providers must report cross-border transfers in and out of crypto assets on a transaction-by-transaction basis by 11:00 AM on the next business day after the transaction is completed, including the transaction time, coin type and quantity, KRW-equivalent amount, fees, and information on both sender and recipient. Service providers must also submit a monthly balance report, FX1021, by 5:30 PM on the 10th of the following month, reporting each user's month-end holdings, KRW-equivalent balance, and total cross-border inflows and outflows for the month, covering dormant accounts, delisted coins, and staked assets; direct transfers between personal wallets are not within the reporting scope. The retroactive scope is based on users who have at least one cross-border transfer record since the Virtual Asset User Protection Act took effect on July 19, 2024, involving a total of 1,272,878 people across the five major exchanges. The Bank of Korea said the data will be shared with the National Tax Service, Korea Customs Service, Financial Supervisory Service, and Financial Intelligence Unit; the central bank is considering relaxing the retroactive starting point to December 3, with the final scope to be determined in November.
Upbit will list the BMT/KRW trading pair, with trading opening today at 11:00.
According to Upbit's official announcement, Upbit will list the Bubblemaps (BMT)/KRW trading pair today at 11:00 Beijing Time, supporting deposits and withdrawals on the Solana network. According to the announcement, buy orders will be restricted for the first 5 minutes after trading opens, and sell orders more than 10% below the previous day's closing price will also be restricted; only limit orders will be supported for approximately the first 2 hours. If liquidity is insufficient, the trading opening time may be delayed.
Bithumb to list AXIS/KRW trading pair
According to an official announcement, South Korean cryptocurrency exchange Bithumb will list the AXIS/KRW trading pair for Axis Robotics, scheduled to officially open trading at 11:00 Beijing Time today.