Dunamu unveiled UpBit this week, a new cryptocurrency trading platform built with Bittrex, a major U.S. exchange. The platform will list all 111 cryptocurrencies currently available on Bittrex. The So
Dunamu unveiled UpBit this week, a new cryptocurrency trading platform built with Bittrex, a major U.S. exchange. The platform will list all 111 cryptocurrencies currently available on Bittrex. The South Korean company drew backing from Kakao, the owner of KakaoTalk and KakaoPay, which invested $3 million in Dunamu back in 2015 and still holds a stake through its ownership of what was rebranded as KakaoStock.
Dunamu struck the partnership directly with Bittrex, not with Kakao itself. But Kakao and its fintech subsidiary KakaoPay will play a key role in the platform's growth. The two companies have agreed to integrate KakaoPay into UpBit, letting users on Kakao's payment network access the exchange without jumping through the regulatory hoops other platforms require.
South Korea's internet penetration runs above 90 percent, and the country boasts some of the fastest connections on earth. More striking is how concentrated the messaging market has become. KakaoTalk dominates to an extreme degree. Of the roughly 88 percent of internet users who rely on messengers, 99.2 percent choose KakaoTalk. Facebook Messenger reaches only 29.2 percent of that group, while LINE manages 13 percent. Nearly every household in the country uses the app.
Trading volumes have exploded. Bithumb, the largest exchange, posted $2.5 billion in daily volume this month, representing more than half of the globe's $4.8 billion daily total. The South Korean market has become a genuine force in crypto, driven in part by aggressive investment from the country's biggest tech firms and telecom companies.
Korbit, the second-largest South Korean exchange, sold to NXC, the parent company of gaming giant Nexon. NXC paid $80 million for a 65 percent stake, valuing Korbit at more than $140 million.
Kakao spent years pushing into financial services. The $3 million investment in Dunamu positioned the company as the dominant operator of online stock trading platforms domestically. Earlier this year, the company launched KakaoPay, its first fintech product. The app added 3 million users in its opening month, drawing heavily from younger demographics.
KakaoPay works differently from traditional lenders. Anyone in South Korea age 18 or older can borrow up to 3 million won through the app without submitting documents or obtaining a bank credit score. The system functions because South Korean telecom carriers already conduct identity verification when people buy SIM cards. KakaoPay taps into that infrastructure to confirm customers' identities and approve loans automatically.
The KakaoPay partnership transforms UpBit's customer onboarding. Most exchanges demand users complete Know Your Customer and Anti-Money Laundering checks before trading, a process that can take days. UpBit bypasses those requirements for anyone already on KakaoPay, letting them begin trading immediately. That advantage could explain why Kakao backed the venture in the first place: it moves its fintech product further into the mainstream while giving the company a foothold in an explosive market.
