Hana and Upbit operator Dunamu explore won digital coins and tokenized assets

Hana Financial Group and Dunamu, the operator of South Korea’s largest crypto exchange Upbit, are deepening their partnership. Senior executives from both sides held a closed-door meeting this week to map out medium- to long-term cooperation in digital finance, with a focus on won-denominated stablecoins, security token offerings and real-world asset tokenization.

The move comes barely two months after Hana Bank – a core affiliate of Hana Financial – agreed to buy about 1 trillion won ($720 million) of Dunamu shares. That transaction made Hana Bank the exchange group’s fourth-largest shareholder, giving it a 6.6% stake.

According to Yonhap News, the meeting was attended by Hana Financial Chairman Ham Young-joo, Vice Chairman Lee Eun-hyung and Dunamu Vice Chairman Kim Hyoung-nyon. They discussed a work plan under the slogan “Time Together, Future Together, Opening the Future of Digital Finance Together.”

Concretely, the two sides are exploring the issuance of a won-pegged stablecoin, the creation of tokenized securities (STOs) and the tokenization of real-world assets. They are also studying how to combine Hana Financial’s anti-money laundering and internal control systems, its foreign-exchange and global payments network, with Dunamu’s blockchain technology and digital-asset user base.

A longer-term project involves building an integrated financial service that lets customers see deposits, stocks and digital assets from multiple banks and crypto exchanges as a single portfolio. The companies are also looking at joint product development and marketing tied to broader corporate participation in the crypto market.

Cross-border remittances and payments are another area of focus. The plan is to simplify international transfers by linking Hana’s FX and global finance infrastructure with Dunamu’s blockchain know-how – including its in-house Web3 infrastructure, Giwa, which is still in development and testing. The two firms are also discussing using that technology for trade settlement and corporate fund transfers.

Chairman Ham told the meeting he would work with Dunamu to “build a bigger future that no one has reached before,” underscoring his commitment to a long-term partnership. The next thing to watch is whether the won stablecoin project clears regulatory hurdles and how quickly the two sides can integrate their backend systems for the portfolio-view service.