Upbit —operated by Dunamu— is preparing a listing on Nasdaq after completing a merger with Naver Financial that, if realized, would create a large-scale group within South Korea’s digital ecosystem. The transaction is structured as a stock-swap with board meetings scheduled for November 26, and the report points to a combined valuation that could range between $13,8.000 millones and $34,5.000 millones after the public offering. This move redefines the entity’s roadmap toward international markets and frames the next phase of expansion.
The planned transaction combines Naver Financial and Dunamu in a stock-swap agreement. A stock-swap is an exchange of shares between companies and allows integration without an immediate cash payment, aligning ownership without altering cash positions in the short term. In the initial valuations cited, Naver Financial was valued at approximately 5 trillion won and Dunamu at 15 trillion won, indicating a scale-up in the merged structure.
The consensus projects that the merged entity could be worth between 20 trillion won ($13,8.000 millones) and 50 trillion won ($34,5.000 millones) following a possible Nasdaq IPO. Final approval is scheduled at board meetings on November 26, with a joint announcement expected shortly after, according to the report. The corporate strategy seeks to integrate Naver Pay with Upbit’s exchange infrastructure and Dunamu’s GIWA blockchain, consolidating capabilities across payments, trading, and distributed ledger technology.
The plan includes the development of a won-backed stablecoin with Naver Pay as the primary issuer, designed as a digital currency whose value is kept stable against a reference fiat currency. The stated objective is to build an integrated digital services platform combining payments, crypto exchange, and blockchain, which could expand use cases and customer flows across the ecosystem.
Regulation, risks and implications for the Nasdaq IPO
The path to Nasdaq encounters local regulatory frictions. Dunamu recently received a sanction of 35.2 trillion won and a three-month suspension on deposits and withdrawals for deficiencies in AML/KYC controls, according to the report, a precedent that affects perceptions of compliance and could delay operational timelines. Additionally, antitrust authorities are monitoring concentration of power; to mitigate concerns, Dunamu is said to have transferred more than half of its voting rights to Naver, an adjustment aimed at facilitating approvals without eliminating scrutiny.
In market terms, the report warns of systemic risks that could affect valuation and IPO timing, including potential contagion linked to stablecoins, corporate treasuries overleveraged in Bitcoin, and global macro vulnerabilities. These threats increase potential volatility and complicate the exit-to-market narrative.
Practical implications include a gateway for traditional payment services to adopt crypto infrastructure at scale, potentially altering user flows and competition in digital payments, while for investors, the convergence raises valuation complexity by mixing traditional fintech metrics with assets and risks native to crypto markets.
The Naver–Dunamu merger reconfigures Korea’s fintech map and charts an ambitious route toward a Nasdaq IPO, although execution depends on internal and regulatory approvals.
