1. Naver-Dunamu Comprehensive Stock Swap: Birth of a Mega Financial Platform
Naver and Dunamu, the operator of Upbit, officially announced their corporate convergence through a comprehensive stock swap on November 26, 2025.
Structural Integration
Dunamu becomes a 100% subsidiary of Naver Financial, creating a vertical integration that unifies payment systems with digital asset exchanges.
Both companies plan to finalize the transaction through a shareholders' meeting in Q2 2026, with Naver announcing plans to invest 10 trillion KRW in AI and Web3 over the next five years.
2. Background and Drivers of the Upbit-Naver Alliance
Recently, major overseas virtual asset exchanges have been actively entering the Korean market.
Foreign Exchanges Entering Korea
Binance Threat
Acquisition of Gopax: Secured 67% stake and regulatory approval (Oct 2025).
High Market Penetration Risk
Bybit Pressure
Targeting Korbit: Aggressive push by global #2 exchange to acquire Korea's #4 player.
Moderate Acquisition Risk
Strategic Necessity
To counter this offensive, Naver and Dunamu aim to defend their market position, create technological synergies, and build an ecosystem utilizing their massive user base.
3. Expected Synergies and Future Strategy
Building a Won-Based Stablecoin Ecosystem
Plans to extend financial services by issuing Won-based stablecoins on Dunamu's 'Kiwa Chain' and integrating them as a payment method on Naver Pay.
Fusion of AI and Blockchain Technology
Core Fusion Technologies
On-Chain Agents
AI-driven automated trading and settlement systems integrated directly into the exchange.
Stablecoin Eco
Won-pegged stablecoin issuance on 'Kiwa Chain' integrated with Naver Pay.
DeFi Infra
Building a comprehensive decentralized financial ecosystem for institutional adoption.
4. Future Outlook of the Korean Digital Asset Market
Critical Risks
- •Monopoly concerns triggering antitrust regulations
- •Centralized security vulnerabilities
Growth Opportunities
- •Global expansion of K-Crypto standards
- •Mass adoption via Naver's UX interface
Conclusion and HighCrypto's Perspective
The alliance between Naver and Dunamu is a major turning point for the Korean digital asset market. This signifies that the importance of crypto marketing within the massive Naver platform will grow significantly.
HighCrypto's Expertise
HighCrypto is the premier expert group for Naver marketing. We have experts across all areas of Naver, possess the largest pool of influencers, and have numerous success stories marketing to investors on Naver. We are ready to lead your project to success in this changing market environment.
