Hana Financial Group announced on May 15 that they agreed to purchase a 6.55% stake in Dunamu (approximately 2.284 million shares) from Kakao Investment for about 1.033 trillion Korean won. This is the first time a Korean financial institution has become a major shareholder of a cryptocurrency exchange, effectively breaking the nine-year-old policy of “금가분리” (separating traditional finance and digital assets).

The transaction is positioned as a step toward “금가융합” (convergence of traditional finance and digital assets), where Hana Financial clearly states the integration of legacy financial infrastructure with blockchain-based innovation. Financial regulators have previously signaled their readiness to allow traditional financial institutions under regulation to participate in the digital asset market.