South Korea’s Naver Makes Power Play: Acquires Upbit Operator Dumamu in Strategic Stock Swap

Tech giant Naver just placed its biggest bet yet on crypto's future—snagging South Korea's premier exchange operator in a landmark stock deal.

The Corporate Chess Move

Naver bypasses traditional acquisition routes with an all-stock swap for Dumamu—the powerhouse behind Upbit's dominant trading platform. This isn't just expansion; it's a full-scale merger of tech and crypto infrastructure.

Market Domination Strategy

The move consolidates Naver's position across search, fintech, and now digital assets—creating an ecosystem that could challenge Korea's entire financial landscape. Traditional banks are watching nervously as web giants absorb the crypto space.

Regulatory Implications

With Korea's FSA tightening crypto oversight, Naver's acquisition signals institutional confidence where others hesitate—proving compliance and scale can coexist in digital assets. Because nothing says 'legitimate' like a tech behemoth risking shareholder value on volatile crypto ventures.

Naver, Upbit to become a leading player in the Stablecoin market

The timing of this merger is noteworthy, especially as South Korea has diverted a lot of focus to establishing and regulating its stablecoin market as a means to challenge the dominance of dollar-pegged options. 

Industry experts believe Naver and Upbit’s stablecoin initiative greatly benefits from this merger, and the two firms are now well-positioned to launch a Korean won-backed stablecoin that could dominate domestic adoption by leveraging Naver Pay’s vast merchant network. Naver Pay is leading the stablecoin initiative, which was first announced in July 2025.

Meanwhile, Upbit itself has forayed into blockchain infrastructure with the launch of its ethereum layer-2 network GIWA Chain earlier this month, and stablecoins are expected to play a central role in the ecosystem, which includes the GIWA wallet.