Korbit gets a $1T sugar daddy and a new name that finally matches its vibe 🪙

Mirae Asset Consulting, an affiliate of South Korea's Mirae Asset Group, has completed its acquisition of a controlling stake in domestic crypto exchange Korbit, becoming the exchange's largest shareholder after clearing regulatory procedures. The deal, first agreed in February for 133.48 billion won ($91 million) and later reported at a 97.15% stake, makes Korbit the first South Korean crypto exchange to be controlled by an affiliate of a major traditional financial group.

Korbit, founded in 2013 and the country's first won-based crypto exchange, said in a Thursday announcement that its operating entity, Korbit Co., Ltd., remains unchanged and that login, trading, deposits and withdrawals will continue without interruption. Customer assets remain segregated from company assets under South Korea's Virtual Asset User Protection Act, and personal data processing continues unchanged with no action required from users. Korbit is one of South Korea's five won-based crypto exchanges, which must maintain banking partnerships to offer fiat on- and off-ramp services.

According to a Herald Business report, Mirae Asset founder and global strategy officer Park Hyeon-joo informed employees in an internal email that Korbit will be rebranded as Digital X. Park described Digital X as central to the group's "Mirae Asset 3.0" strategy, which combines digital assets with traditional finance and prioritizes anti-money laundering controls, customer verification, information security and fraud detection as South Korea develops its crypto and tokenized securities rules. Mirae Asset reported total assets under management of $1 trillion as of May.

The company said Digital X is intended to function as an "intelligent investment platform" connecting real-world asset tokenization, security token offerings, stablecoins, traditional assets and digital assets in a single ecosystem. Mirae Asset told CoinDesk it will focus on investor education, research, strict compliance standards and institutional-grade infrastructure rather than directly challenging larger rivals Upbit and Bithumb, where Korbit currently holds less than 1% of domestic crypto market share.

Mirae Asset Group reported total AUM of $1 trillion as of May and operates businesses including financial services, hotels and golf courses through affiliates. The acquisition follows a similar pattern in Asia, where Japan's SBI Group agreed to acquire Tokyo-based Bitbank for $289 million and to purchase a majority stake in Singapore-based Coinhako. South Korea remains one of the world's most active retail crypto markets, with exchanges generating most of their revenue from trading fees.