- Deal will see Upbit operator Dunamu become a Naver Financial subsidiary.
- Press conference slated for November 27, Naver and Dunamu CEOs set to face media.
- Naver posted net revenues of $7.3 billion last year.
Naver, South Korea’s answer to Google, has moved closer to a deal that will see it snap up Upbit, the country’s biggest crypto exchange.
Naver and its financial subsidiary Naver Financial plan to hold board meetings on November 26 to confirm a stock swap deal with Dumau, the Upbit operator.
But the boards’ decisions appear to be a fait accompli, the South Korean news agency Yonhap reported, quoting anonymous sources close to the deal.
And Naver founder and chair Lee Hae-jin is scheduled to “personally explain” the merger plan with Dunamu at the meeting, before facing the media for a press conference on November 27.
Dunamu CEO Song Chi-hyung will also attend the press event, to be held at the Naver headquarters in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province.
The deal, details of which were first unveiled in September, will see Naver, which has a market cap of $39.2 billion, take control of Dumau.
Upbit’s trading volumes over the past 24 hours were worth over $2 billion, Coingecko data shows.
Naver-Dunamu merger roadmap
Lee will reportedly unveil a “merger roadmap” to the board, which he is likely to make public at the press conference.
The Naver board meeting appears to have been hurriedly arranged. Yonhap’s sources said it will “be held in a hybrid format, with some members joining in-person and others attending via video conferencing apps.”
Yonhap and other South Korean media outlets have confirmed that the merger between the two companies will involve a stock swap.
This will see Dunamu shareholders exchange their existing shares for newly issued Naver Financial shares at an exchange ratio of 1:3.
That means Dumanu shareholders are set to receive thee Naver Financial shares for every Dunamu share they own.
Naver’s ownership stake in Naver Financial is currently 69%. The merger deal would see that stake diluted to around 17%, with Dunamu becoming a wholly owned Naver Financial subsidiary.
However, regulatory red tape still poses a potential obstacle to the deal. South Korean lawmakers have accused Upbit of operating a de facto monopoly in the domestic crypto market.
Upbit is one of only five exchanges in the country with a license that permits Korean won-crypto pairings.
In October, the South Korean newspaper Seoul Kyungjae wrote that the domestic crypto market has “effectively solidified into an Upbit monopoly.”
According to the South Korean financial regulator, the Financial Supervisory Service, Upbit’s share of total domestic crypto trading volumes in the first half of 2026 was 71.6%.
Naver Financial’s flagship service is Naver Pay, South Korea’s biggest digital payment platform. The firm also operates asset management and lending services for retail and business users.
Tim Alper is a news correspondent at DL News. Got a tip? Email at tdalper@dlnews.com.
