Major Korean conglomerate to acquire stake in Upbit cryptocurrency exchange

The Hanwha Group’s brokerage arm, Hanwha Investment and Securities, has reached an agreement to purchase a 6.15% stake in Dumanu, the operator of the Upbit cryptocurrency exchange.

#HanwhaInvestment to buy 6.15% stake in #Dunamu#brokerage #SouthKorea #fintechhttps://t.co/VKUzNsfhRk

— The Korea Herald (@TheKoreaHerald) February 3, 2021

The deal value will be 58.3 billion won ($52.24 million). Finalisation is scheduled for 22 February.

A Hanwha Group spokesperson said the company is betting on digitisation and further development of the fintech industry. He said the purchase of 2.06 million Upbit shares is a \”long-term investment\”.

Alongside Samsung, Hyundai, LG and SK Group, Hanwha is one of the largest financial-industrial conglomerates in South Korea.

The group is actively expanding its involvement in the blockchain and cryptocurrency sectors through its subsidiaries. In January it participated in a funding round of the Singapore platform for digital securities iSTOX.

Since 2018, Hanwha Group’s subsidiary insurance company has sold insurance products to Korean cryptocurrency exchanges. These include coverage for losses arising from hacking attacks.

In November 2019, following a hack of Upbit, attackers stole 342,000 ETH (about $48.2 million at the time).

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