Naver Financial-Dunamu acquisition: Naver to merge AI with fintech, focus on global expansion

Naver Chairman Lee Hae-jin, center, speaks during a press conference to announce Dunamu's acquisition at Naver headquarters in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, Thursday. From left are Naver Financial CEO Park Sang-jin, Naver CEO Choi Soo-yeon, Lee, Dunamu Chairman Song Chi-hyung and Dunamu CEO Oh Kyoung-suk. Courtesy of Naver

Naver’s fintech arm Naver Financial’s acquisition of Dunamu, the operator of Korea’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, Upbit, signals the tech powerhouse’s aggressive push to converge artificial intelligence (AI) and blockchain-based Web3 finance to reshape the global digital finance landscape.

“Naver has built and continues to build unparalleled AI capabilities for financial services, leveraging its high-quality data and technical expertise across the digital space. And Dunamu has developed competitiveness through its experience operating a world-class digital asset exchange, as well as in token economics, on-chain services and the broader Web3 sector. And now, Web3 is added to Naver’s capabilities,” Naver CEO Choi Soo-yeon said during a press conference to announce the acquisition at its headquarters in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, on Thursday.

“Sharing a common vision to pursue innovation on the global stage, Naver and Dunamu aim to combine our user bases, data technology, services and capital to create a full line-up and take a bold step forward into the global Web3 market.”

Naver’s subsidiary, Naver Financial, acquired Dunamu on Wednesday as its wholly owned subsidiary through a share-swap deal, under which one Dunamu share was exchanged for 2.54 shares of Naver Financial.

As a result of the deal, Dunamu Chairman Song Chi-hyung now holds a 19.5 percent stake in Naver Financial, while Naver’s direct holding in its fintech arm drops from 69 percent to 17 percent. However, Naver has secured delegated voting rights from Song and from Dunamu Vice Chairman Kim Hyung-nyon, who owns a 10 percent stake, giving Naver effective control over 46.5 percent of voting rights as Naver Financial’s parent company.

The executives from three companies emphasized that the acquisition will unlock new synergies by tightly combining their respective strengths.

“The global fintech market is evolving from payment systems to investment, asset management and capital markets with new blockchain-based services,” Song said, noting now is the perfect time to join forces to secure world-class competitiveness in the industry.

“The three companies are together aiming to design a next-generation financial infrastructure combining AI and blockchain, creating a new global platform ecosystem that extends beyond payments into all areas of finance and related services.”

Naver CEO Choi Soo-yeon speaks during a press conference to announce Naver Financial's acquisition of Dunamu at its headquarters in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, Thursday. Courtesy of Naver

Naver also announced that it plans to invest 10 trillion won ($6.8 billion) over the next five years to reinforce Korea’s domestic AI and Web3 ecosystem to stay competitive in the intensifying global technology race.

“In the global market, players that have already obtained the necessary technologies and service infrastructure are rapidly emerging, and Naver and Dunamu alone are still not enough to build long-term competitiveness,” Choi said.

“So, we intend to further strengthen the domestic AI and Web3 ecosystem by actively investing in training technical talent and supporting tech startups … This ecosystem will, in turn, attract new talent and companies, providing a solid foundation for a virtuous cycle for continuous innovation.”

When asked about the management structure and specific future business plans, the executives acknowledged that many details are still to be finalized, stressing that the integration is only just beginning.

“The three companies are now under one roof, and they can pursue deep integration and trust-based collaboration. What specific services will emerge is something that will be created from here on,” Naver Chairman Lee Hae-jin said.

Choi shared that a speedy decision-making structure will be implemented through typical corporate governance channels, such as the board of directors and various committees.

“But what matters even more is mutual trust and first bringing our people together under a unified culture. To achieve this, we plan to share our capabilities as extensively as possible,” she said.

Meanwhile, on the same day, Korea’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, Upbit, operated by Dunamu, suffered a major hacking attack, resulting in the loss of over 44 billion won in assets.

According to Dunamu, the company confirmed that 44.5 billion won worth of Solana-related assets were transferred to an unauthorized wallet address at 4:42 a.m.

Government and business sources suspect that North Korea-linked hacking group Lazarus was behind the breach. Authorities plan to conduct an on-site investigation at the exchange, operating under the assumption that Lazarus was responsible.