▲ The corporate image of Hana Financial Group (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)
▲ This image provided by Dunamu Inc. shows the logo of Upbit, a South Korean cryptocurrency exchange. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

(LEAD) Hana Financial-crypto exchange stake

(LEAD) Hana Financial buys stake in No. 1 crypto exchange operator Dunamu

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SEOUL, May 15 (Yonhap) -- Hana Financial Group Inc., one of South Korea's major banking groups, said Friday it has decided to buy a stake in the country's top crypto exchange operator Dunamu Inc. for 1 trillion won (US$669 million), the largest-ever investment by a bank into a virtual asset operator.

In a regulatory filing, Hana Financial said its flagship Hana Bank will take over a 6.55 percent stake in Dunamu, the operator of Upbit, from Kakao Investment.

Hana Financial will become the fourth-largest shareholder after the stake takeover.

The alliance between an established financial institution and a virtual asset operator heralds their business cooperation going beyond simple services, such as a real-name account for virtual asset transactions, to digital financial services, such as stablecoin projects.

The move also comes as local crypto exchange operators have been under pressure from the country's financial regulator to sharply lower major shareholders' stakes in the operators as part of efforts to shore up financial soundness and their business responsibility.

In November, Naver Financial Corp., the fintech subsidiary of the country's leading portal operator Naver Corp., announced its decision to acquire Dunamu as a wholly owned subsidiary in a share-swap deal.

Dunamu held assets worth 13.17 trillion won at the end of last year and generated 709 billion won in net profit on 1.56 trillion won in sales.

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