- Strategic integration to preemptively respond to the global tech trend
- Dunamu, operator of Korea’s largest crypto exchange Upbit, joining forces with Naver to empower K-fintech
- To invest KRW 10 trillion over the next five years to expand Korea’s blockchain, Web3, and AI technology ecosystem
SEOUL, South Korea, Nov. 28, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — Dunamu Inc. (CEO Kyung-seok Oh), NAVER Corp. (CEO Soo Yeon Choi), and NAVER Financial Corp. (CEO Sang-jin Park) announced on Thursday that their respective boards have approved a comprehensive share-swap, under which Dunamu will become part of NAVER group. The companies held a joint press conference at NAVER’s 1784 headquarters to outline their shared vision for global expansion.
The press conference was attended by NAVER Founder and Global Investment Officer Hae-jin Lee, Dunamu Chairman Chi-hyung Song, NAVER CEO Soo Yeon Choi, Dunamu CEO Kyung-seok Oh and NAVER Financial CEO Sang-jin Park.
Dunamu operating Upbit, the world’s fourth-largest and Korea’s top crypto exchange, and Naver and Naver Financial are expected to gain a significant edge over global fintech firms, empowering K-fintech to go global.
Targeting global markets through AI–Web3 convergence
Naver CEO Soo Yeon Choi said the integration comes at a pivotal moment when the mass adoption of blockchain is coinciding with the rise of “agentic AI,” in which AI systems make autonomous decisions and execute tasks.
“This is a critical inflection point where new opportunities are opening,” Choi said. “NAVER and Dunamu have joined forces around the idea of driving a new wave of innovation on the global stage.”
Dunamu Chairman Song said the three companies intend to jointly design next-generation financial infrastructure that fuses AI and blockchain.
“We aim to build a new global platform model that extends beyond payments and settlements to encompass the full spectrum of financial services and, ultimately, everyday lifestyle services,” Song said.
NAVER Founder Lee stressed the strategic importance of combining NAVER’s AI capabilities with Dunamu’s Web3 expertise
“For NAVER to continue to lead the next wave of markets, our AI capabilities must be tightly integrated with Web3,” Lee said. “To keep pace with global digital finance, Dunamu and NAVER Financial need faster decision-making and must take on ambitious initiatives that global peers have not yet tried.”
CEO Oh, who leads Korea’s largest crypto exchange Upbit, emphasized that the essence of the deal is to turn global technology shifts into growth opportunities.
“By combining the capabilities, we intend to treat this global inflection point not as a risk but as an opportunity for a far greater leap forward,” Oh said.
Combining strengths across AI, Web3, payments, content and commerce
Once the deal is completed, NAVER—Korea’s largest internet company and a leading player in search and AI technology; NAVER Financial—a top simple-payment provider with more than 34 million users and over KRW 80 trillion in annual transaction volume; and Dunamu—operator of Upbit, which boasts top-tier global digital asset trading volume, and owner of Korea’s leading blockchain technologies such as GiwaChain—will pool their strengths to seize new global opportunities.
CEO Choi stressed the companies will prioritize building shared, global-first operating culture after the deal closure.
“It’s important that we fully convey our shared vision to external stakeholders. Once the deal is completed, we will establish a culture that puts global expansion first and be thoroughly prepared to move aggressively into the global Web3 market, backed by a full lineup of users, data, technology, services and capital.”
KRW 10 trillion investment over five years to catalyze Korea’s AI and Web3 ecosystem
At the joint press conference, CEO Choi also announced that the three companies plan to play a leading role in strengthening Korea’s technology ecosystem in AI, Web3 and other strategic areas. With global players already emerging on the back of strong technological and service foundations, she noted that ecosystem-building is essential for Korean companies to secure competitiveness.
To that end, companies announced a plan to invest KRW 10 trillion over the next five years to cultivate talent in AI and blockchain, build a more secure and resilient infrastructure and support promising startups.
Looking ahead, Oh added that Dunamu and NAVER Financial will prioritize realizing synergies from the integration rather than pursuing further governance changes in the near term.
“Our immediate focus will be on maximizing synergies through the comprehensive share swap, affiliate integration and corporate convergence,” Oh said. “Rather than additional changes to the governance structure, we will concentrate on advancing into global markets and expanding access to capital markets.”
SOURCE Dunamu
