South Korean financial giant Mirae Asset Group has officially moved to acquire a controlling 92.06% stake in Korbit, one of the country’s "Big Five" cryptocurrency exchanges.
According to regulatory filings released on February 13, Mirae Asset Consulting, an affiliate of the group, will acquire 26.91 million shares of Korbit for KRW 133.5 billion ($92.6 million).
The acquisition involves a sweep of shares previously held by Korbit’s major backers including NXC, the parent company of gaming giant Nexon (formerly the largest shareholder) and several entities affiliated with SK Group, South Korea's second largest conglomerate by revenue.
"Mirae Asset 3.0"
Mirae Asset described the acquisition as a move to secure "future growth engines based on digital assets," according to ChosunBiz . This aligns with the group's broader "Mirae Asset 3.0" strategy, which aims to bridge the gap between traditional capital markets and blockchain technology.
It was also reported that industry analysts suggest the timing is no coincidence. With South Korea formalizing its Security Token Offering (STO) framework, Mirae Asset is positioning Korbit as the primary infrastructure provider for tokenized real-world assets (RWAs). By owning an exchange with an existing "Real-Name Bank Account" partnership, Mirae Asset bypasses the significant regulatory hurdles of building a crypto-onramp from scratch.
Strict regulation locally generally prevent banks and securities firms from owning non-financial subsidiaries like crypto exchanges. Executing the Korbit deal through Mirae Asset Consulting (a non-financial affiliate) ensures that Mirae does not run afoul of the Bank Act or Securities act, while also allowing them to cement an operational foothold in digital assets.
The Bigger Picture: TradFi Eats Crypto
Although Korbit was founded in 2013 as the first bitcoin exchange in Korea, it represents roughly just 1% of market share in a geography dominated by the likes of Upbit and Bitthumb.
The Mirae-Korbit deal is the latest move by Korean financial titans to integrate with crypto natives. Recently, Naver Financial and Dunamu (operator of Upbit) completed a comprehensive share swap agreement with Dumamu announcing plans for a NASDAQ IPO once the deal is completed.
