Samsung units to buy $408 million stake in South Korea’s biggest crypto exchange

Samsung Securities is set to take a 2% stake in Dunamu, worth over $200 million, from affiliates of technology conglomerate Kakao.

What to know:

• Three Samsung affiliates agreed to buy 4% of Dunamu, the operator of South Korea's largest cryptocurrency exchange, Upbit, from tech conglomerate Kakao.
• The $408 million transaction means Kakao has now offloaded about $1.5 billion worth of equity in Dunamu in less than a month.
• Samsung, the largest company in South Korea, has been actively involved in the crypto industry for several years, having introduced its digital asset wallet in 2019.

Three Samsung affiliates agreed to buy a 4% stake in Dunamu, the operator of South Korea's largest cryptocurrency exchange, Upbit, for a total of 612.8 billion won ($408 million), the Korea Herald reported.

Investment bank Samsung Securities is set to take a 2% stake in Dunamu in a 306 billion-won cash transaction, from affiliates of technology conglomerate Kakao, according to a Thursday filing. It is joined by credit card provider Samsung Card and IT arm Samsung SDS, each taking a 1% stake, according to the Korea Herald.

The deals, scheduled to complete on June 19, mean Kakao will have sold about $1.5 billion worth of equity in Dunamu in less than a month. It sold a 6.55% stake for about 1 trillion won to Seoul-based financial institution Hana Bank about two weeks ago, followed by a 600 billion won stake to Hanwha Investment and Securities.

In common with many technology giants, Kakao has made artificial intelligence an increasingly central part of its strategy through its "Kanana" AI models and partnerships with OpenAI. With the cryptocurrency market in a sustained bearish mood, crypto is taking a backseat to AI for a lot of major companies' investment priorities.

Samsung, the largest company in South Korea, has been actively involved in the crypto industry for several years, having introduced its digital asset wallet in 2019.

Samsung Securities shares fell 2.7%, Samsung SDS dropped 5% and Samsung Card gained 0.21% on Thursday. Kakao slipped 1%.

The companies had not responded to a CoinDesk request for comment by publication time.

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