South Korea’s Mirae Asset Financial Group has signed a memorandum of understanding to acquire Korbit, the country’s fourth-largest cryptocurrency exchange, for between ₩100 billion and ₩140 billion ($70 million to $97.5 million).
The acquisition would give Mirae Asset, one of Asia’s largest asset managers, its first foothold in digital assets. The deal is being routed through Mirae Asset Consulting, a non-financial affiliate, to navigate South Korea’s 2017 regulations that separate traditional finance from crypto operations.
Korbit’s shareholders—NXC, the holding company behind gaming giant Nexon, with 60.5%, and SK Planet with 31.5%—have agreed to sell their combined 92% stake. SK Planet invested ₩90 billion ($63 million) in 2021.
Despite being Korea’s first Bitcoin-won trading platform when it launched in 2013, Korbit now commands less than 1% of domestic volume, according to CoinGecko data. Daily trading sits around $12 million, compared with Upbit’s $1.2 billion and Bithumb’s $475 million.
The deal follows Naver Financial’s stock-swap merger with Dunamu, Upbit’s operator, signaling traditional finance’s growing appetite for licensed crypto infrastructure. Bybit had also explored acquiring Korbit earlier this year.
Neither Mirae Asset nor Korbit has confirmed final terms. The transaction could prompt rivals KB Financial and Shinhan to accelerate their own digital asset strategies.
