Samsung’s Crypto Coup: $408M Stake in Upbit-Is this the End of Wall Street?

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Finance

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What to know:

  • Three Samsung affiliates have decided to buy 4% of Dunamu, the company running South Korea’s biggest crypto exchange Upbit, from tech giant Kakao.
  • The $408 million swap has seen Kakao shed roughly $1.5 billion of equity in Dunamu in under a month-because, apparently, a month is too long to wait for your money to do its job.
  • Samsung, the country’s biggest company by market cap, has been flirting with crypto for years, launching a digital‑asset wallet way back in 2019.

In total, 612.8 billion won (about $408 million) will change hands when Samsung affiliates grab a 4% stake in Dunamu, according to the Korea Herald.

Samsung Securities will take a 2% slice in a 306 billion‑won cash deal, with Samsung Card and Samsung SDS each claiming one‑one‑tenth of a percent, per a Thursday filing. All that’s on the official paperwork, of course.

The deals, slated for completion on June 19, mean Kakao has already sold roughly $1.5 billion of Dunamu equity in less than a month. Just a week earlier they sold a 6.55% stake for about 1 trillion won to Hana Bank, then a 600 billion‑won chunk to Hanwha Investment and Securities. Talk about a busy weekend.

Like many tech giants, Kakao is padding its AI arm with top‑tier “Kanana” models and OpenAI partnerships. With the cryptocurrency market still sceptically bearish, investors are trading crypto for a good dose of AI that actually has something to do with the future.

Samsung’s four‑fold involvement in crypto doesn’t get any crazier-remember the 2019 digital wallet launch? Bongo.

On the side‑effect list: Samsung Securities shares dipped 2.7%, Samsung SDS fell 5%, Samsung Card edged up 0.21% and Kakao slipped 1% on Thursday.

Neither group bothered to comment when CoinDesk reached out for their thoughts, because apparently silence is the new loud.

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2026-05-28 14:13