South Korea’s financial giant Mirae Asset Group is pushing forward with the acquisition of Korea’s fourth-largest cryptocurrency exchange, Korbit. This exchange, which accounts for less than 1% of the market share, has been operating at a loss for years, and existing shareholders have long sought to exit. Can the entry of traditional financial giants break the duopoly of Upbit and Bithumb?
(Background: 160 trillion KRW flowing overseas to exchanges! Korea’s tightening regulations trigger a wave of crypto capital outflows, with domestic exchanges stagnating in growth)
(Additional context: Korea plans to limit major shareholders’ holdings in exchanges to no more than 20%, forcing restructuring of the four major platforms including Upbit and Bithumb)

Table of Contents

• “Korea’s Buffett” tests the waters in cryptocurrency
• Shrinking market share, years of losses, Korbit hopes for a new owner
• Intense competition and tightening regulations in Korea’s crypto exchanges

Korea’s cryptocurrency exchange scene is constantly evolving. By the end of 2025, Mirae Asset Group was revealed to be advancing with the acquisition of a stake in Korea’s fourth-largest crypto exchange, Korbit. News of a traditional financial giant entering the crypto market has once again drawn attention to Korea.

Currently, Mirae Asset Group has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Korbit’s largest shareholder, NXC, and the second-largest shareholder, SK Planet. The agreement covers approximately all shares held by both parties, with an estimated transaction valuation between 100 billion and 140 billion KRW (about 70 million to 100 million USD). Due to confidentiality agreements, Mirae Asset cannot confirm specific details publicly.

“Korea’s Buffett” tests the waters in cryptocurrency

Mirae Asset Group is one of Korea’s leading comprehensive financial conglomerates, with business coverage including asset management, securities investment banking and brokerage, insurance, and more, with “globalization” as its long-term strategic focus. According to the group, as of July 2025, its total assets under management have surpassed 700 billion USD.

The group’s leader is Park Hyeon-joo, known as “Korea’s Buffett.” Since founding Mirae Asset Group in 1997, Park has been a core decision-maker, currently serving as Global Strategy Officer, focusing on overseas operations. According to The Korea Times, sources say Park has emphasized exploring business connections between traditional global assets and digital assets.

Park Hyeon-joo

Therefore, the current move to acquire Korbit aligns with Park’s vision of financial innovation based on digital assets. Currently, Mirae Asset’s non-financial subsidiary, Mirae Asset Consulting, has signed purchase memoranda of understanding with Korbit’s two major shareholders—game giant Nexon’s holding company NXC and SK Group’s subsidiary SK Planet. NXC and its affiliates hold about 60.5%, while SK Planet holds about 31.5%.

The reason for using Mirae Asset Consulting to complete the Korbit acquisition is due to Korea’s “financial-virtual asset separation” principle established since 2017, which generally prevents traditional financial institutions from directly operating, holding, or controlling virtual asset-related businesses. Using a non-financial subsidiary as the acquisition entity allows circumventing these regulatory restrictions.

Mirae Asset has not officially responded to this matter, but informed sources say the general direction of signing the memorandum of understanding has been confirmed. This move is also seen as an important signal of Korea’s traditional financial institutions actively expanding into digital assets.

Shrinking market share, years of losses, Korbit hopes for a new owner

Mirae Asset Group’s bold move into the crypto industry—acquiring Korbit—has been widely viewed as having a significant impact on Korea’s crypto market. Optimists even predict that Korbit, once acquired, could break the duopoly of Upbit and Bithumb.

Founded in 2013, Korbit is one of Korea’s earliest Bitcoin-to-KRW exchanges. In its early days, Korbit held a notable position in blockchain trading with the Korean won, but as market competition intensified, its influence waned.

Today, although Korbit claims to be Korea’s fourth-largest crypto exchange, its market position and share are far behind Upbit and Bithumb. By the end of December 2025, Upbit and Bithumb’s 24-hour trading volume market shares are approximately 67% and 27%, respectively, with third-largest Coinone at about 5%, and Korbit less than 1%, trailing far behind industry leaders.

Korea’s Top Four Exchanges

In terms of shareholder structure, NXC, the holding company of gaming giant Nexon, acquired about 62% of Korbit in 2017 for 93 billion KRW (about 70 million USD). In 2021, SK Group’s investment platform SK Square (or SK Planet) invested about 90 billion KRW in Korbit, acquiring roughly 35%, becoming the second-largest shareholder. Since then, NXC’s stake has been diluted to about 60.5%, and SK Square’s to about 31.5%.

From a timeline perspective, both traditional giants’ investments in blockchain and metaverse sectors came at an opportune time. However, Korbit’s operational performance has been less than ideal, with continuous losses after NXC’s acquisition. In 2024, the Korean virtual currency market rebounded, turning Korbit profitable. Its losses in 2024 significantly narrowed compared to 2023, and non-recurring gains from crypto asset investments led Korbit to a net profit of 9.8 billion KRW last year.

As a result, NXC and SK Square have already begun seeking exit strategies, looking for new owners for Korbit. In February 2024, media reports indicated NXC planned to sell about 48% of its Korbit shares. Since 2023, NXC and SK Square have contacted multiple potential buyers, but negotiations have repeatedly failed due to differing price expectations and internal/external issues.

Notably, in November 2025, reports surfaced that Bybit had begun discussions to acquire Korbit, but Korbit’s official statement denied the rumor, stating “no notifications or negotiations regarding share sale are ongoing.”

Korea’s crypto exchanges face intense competition and tightening regulations

Currently, Korea’s crypto market is dominated by Upbit, with Bithumb making a strong push. While both giants are expanding their business, they are also working to solidify their competitive advantages.

Upbit, operated by Dunamu, has announced it will be acquired by Korea’s tech giant Naver through its financial subsidiary Naver Financial, in a full stock transaction valued at 10.3 billion USD. According to the announced schedule, the final share exchange and settlement are expected to be completed by June 30, 2026.

Additionally, Bloomberg reports that after the Naver Financial merger, Upbit plans to pursue an initial public offering (IPO) on Nasdaq.

Bithumb, aiming to list on Korea’s KOSDAQ in 2026, has also been preparing extensively. In 2025, it pushed for a corporate split and restructuring, separating its exchange core business from investment, holding, and new non-exchange businesses, to present clearer business boundaries and risk isolation during the listing review. The IPO’s lead underwriter is Samsung Securities, which is currently conducting due diligence and other preparations.

In this competitive environment, Korbit, with its very small market share, faces significant challenges to break through.

On the other hand, regulatory pressures not only hinder business development but also increase future acquisition uncertainties for Mirae Asset.

By the end of 2025, Korea’s Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) reported that Korbit was fined 2.73 billion KRW (about 2.08 million USD) and received an institutional warning for violating the “Specific Financial Information Act,” with warnings and disciplinary actions against company representatives and reporting responsible persons. FIU’s penalties are part of broader enforcement actions against Korean exchanges, mainly focusing on whether platforms fulfill customer identification and transaction restrictions. Previously, the agency also issued a fine of about 35.2 billion KRW to Dunamu.

Furthermore, Korea’s Financial Services Commission has proposed in the “Digital Asset Basic Act” submitted to the National Assembly to limit the shareholding ratio of major shareholders of the four largest domestic virtual asset exchanges to between 15% and 20%, aiming to prevent a small number of founders and shareholders from controlling exchange operations. If passed, these exchanges will face restructuring and reorganization, raising concerns within the industry about excessive government regulation.

Therefore, whether Mirae Asset and Korbit can ultimately reach an agreement remains uncertain. Despite its small size, Korbit, as a licensed exchange with banking account connectivity and compliance infrastructure, is attractive to traditional financial institutions and can quickly access regulated virtual asset services. If the acquisition succeeds, Mirae Asset, as a traditional financial giant, could provide far more support to Korbit than current shareholders, further promoting the integration of traditional finance and cryptocurrency industries.