South Korean Brokerages Race to Buy Stakes in Crypto Exchanges

South Korea's National Assembly passed amendments to the Electronic Securities Act and the Capital Markets Act on January 15, 2026, with the security token offering framework set to take effect on February 4, 2027. Brokerages are moving early to establish positions in crypto exchanges, aiming to extend their brokerage and investment-banking businesses into tokenized securities and real-world assets, or RWA, while securing access to issuance, distribution and customers.

On June 29, Kiwoom Securities confirmed it was considering an investment in Bithumb through a third-party share allotment, though the stake and investment amount had not been finalized. Samsung Securities, Samsung SDS and Samsung Card announced on May 28 that they would spend 612.8 billion won to acquire a combined 4% stake in Dunamu, the operator of Upbit. Mirae Asset Consulting acquired a 92.06% stake in Korbit for 133.5 billion won.