Upbit Parent Dunamu's First-Quarter Profit Plunges 78%

South Korea’s Virtual Asset User Protection Act requires exchanges to safeguard customer assets, but it does not expressly prescribe penalties for hacking or information-technology failures. That gap matters in the case of Upbit, the country’s largest crypto exchange, because any action against operator Dunamu may establish how far regulators can use existing rules to enforce cybersecurity and disclosure duties while lawmakers work on a broader digital-asset framework.

The Financial Supervisory Service was reported on July 19 to have sent Dunamu an inspection opinion letter, the first formal step in sanctions proceedings. Upbit lost 44.5 billion won ($30.4 million) of Solana-network assets in a breach on Nov. 27, 2025, carried out from 4:42 a.m. to 5:36 a.m. The FSS will hear Dunamu’s response before giving advance notice of any penalty; the scope and severity remain uncertain.

Dunamu operates Upbit, South Korea’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, and is a central player in the country’s digital-asset market. Samsung has continued expanding in the sector since launching a digital-asset wallet in 2019. The investment could extend its reach into Korean won stablecoins, blockchain finance and payment infrastructure, reflecting conglomerates’ accelerating push into crypto finance.

On May 28, 2026, Samsung Securities, Samsung Card and Samsung SDS agreed to acquire a combined 4% stake in Dunamu from Kakao affiliates for 612.8 billion won, or about $408 million. The transaction was originally scheduled to close on June 19. Samsung Securities would acquire 2%, while the other two companies would each take 1%. In less than a month, Kakao had sold about $1.5 billion worth of Dunamu shares in total.