Mirae Asset Consulting, an affiliate of the Mirae Asset Group financial conglomerate, has acquired a 97.15% stake in Korbit, South Korea’s first cryptocurrency exchange, marking the first time a traditional Korean financial group’s affiliate has taken a controlling stake in a domestic crypto exchange.
Korbit was founded in 2013 as South Korea’s oldest homegrown crypto exchange. The acquisition, announced on July 23, 2026, does not disrupt user services, deposits, or withdrawals. User deposits and virtual assets remain held separately from company assets under South Korea’s Act on the Protection of Virtual Asset Users.
Mirae Asset’s Expansion into Digital Assets
Mirae Asset Group, which manages approximately $1 trillion in assets under management as of May 2026, operates across traditional finance and hospitality. Mirae Asset Consulting, the acquiring entity, also manages the group’s hotels and golf course businesses. The stake in Korbit represents the conglomerate’s entry into cryptocurrency exchange operations.
The move aligns with a pattern of traditional finance firms acquiring crypto assets in Asia. Japanese financial conglomerate SBI Group acquired Tokyo-based Bitbank and purchased a majority stake in Singapore-based Coinhako. South Korea itself maintains retail crypto trading volumes that often rival stock exchange volumes, providing a substantial market for exchange operations.
User Protections and Operations
The acquisition does not change the corporate entity operating Korbit. Regulatory frameworks in South Korea protect users through the Act on the Protection of Virtual Asset Users, which mandates that user deposits and virtual assets be held separately from company assets. This separation remains in place following the change in ownership.
