South Korea’s biggest securities firm snaps up crypto exchange as stock market soars

South Korea’s biggest securities player has agreed a $92 million deal to take over Korbit, the country’s oldest crypto exchange.

The deal will see Mirae Asset, a firm with $418 billion in total assets under management, buy 92% of Korbit’s shares, subject to regulatory approval.

The goal of the takeover for Mirae is “securing digital asset-powered future growth engines,” the firm said in a statement, South Korean newspaper Chosun Ilbo reported.

Mirae Asset’s share price surged on news of the deal, rising by a total of over 15% over the past five days. Over the past six months, the company’s share prices have rocketed by 226%.

If the Financial Services Commission signs off on the deal, it will complete a tectonic shift in the South Korean crypto exchange market. All five of the country’s permit-holding exchanges began life as small IT startups.

But with South Korea’s largest big tech firm waiting for approval of its own merger with the market-leading Upbit exchange, and rumours of further sales continuing to circulate, traders may soon need to navigate a radically altered market landscape.

Custody plans

“This is the first time an institutional financial company will have a crypto exchange as a subsidiary,” an unnamed financial investment industry official told South Korean newspaper Maeil Kyungjae. “It is highly likely that this will lead to the development of various derivatives, such as securities tokens and crypto custody offerings.”

Mirae Asset will bypass rules that block financial firms from direct crypto industry takeovers by carrying out the deal via its Mirae Asset Consulting subsidiary.

The deal will see the securities firm take over the gaming firm Nexon’s controlling 61% share in Korbit, as well as the telecoms giant SK’s SK Planet subsidiary’s 31.5% share.

Despite its early dominance of the South Korean Bitcoin trading scene, Korbit’s market share has dwindled in recent years, falling to around 1%, far behind Upbit’s 60-70% share.

However, Mirae will aim to reverse this trend. Last year, the firm posted net profits of $1.1 billion, a 72% year-on-year rise. The company has since announced plans to reinvest its profits into “digital asset business growth.”

It will be buoyed by sky-high stock market performance and its own record-breaking earnings. The Korea Composite Stock Price Index, the index of all common shares on the Korea Exchange, reached an all-time high earlier this year.

Stocks surging

Analysts report that many Bitcoin traders have abandoned stagnant crypto markets in favour of the domestic stock market.

The data appears to back these claims up. In late January, Upbit’s daily trading volume dropped to $755 million, per CoinGecko data, down over 90% from mid-July 2025 peaks of around $10 billion.

President Lee Jae-myung has also prioritised a domestic stock market revival, making KOSPI growth the cornerstone of his economic policy.

Lee has bemoaned the popularity of overseas stock investment, real estate purchases, and “speculative” trading.

“There is a lot of money in South Korea, but where is it going?” he asked last year, during a meeting with Mirae chiefs and other securities firms.

The issue of deregulation for securities firms was also on the table at the same meeting, emboldening Mirae to make its Korbit move.

Tim Alper is a News Correspondent at DL News. Got a tip? Email him at tdalper@dlnews.com.