OKX is in discussions to buy roughly a 20% stake in Coinone, a licensed South Korean crypto exchange, according to a report by Yonhap News Agency on May 15. Korea Investment & Securities is also pursuing a parallel 20% stake under the same framework. No deal terms have been formally confirmed by any of the parties involved.
The deal and its backers
Coinone's largest shareholder is The One Group at 34.30%, followed by Com2uS Holdings at 21.95%, CEO Cha Myung-hoon at 19.14%, and Com2uS Plus at 16.47%. Cha, the exchange's founder, is also the largest shareholder of The One Group. That means a combined 20% sale to OKX and another to Korea Investment & Securities would shift the ownership structure significantly — and potentially run into regulatory limits.
Regulatory headwinds
South Korea's Financial Services Commission proposed in late December 2025 that major shareholders of domestic crypto exchanges be capped at 15–20% ownership. If that rule goes through, any investor wanting more than a fifth of a licensed exchange would need special clearance — or restructure the deal. The FSC hasn't finalized the rule yet, but the timing of OKX's approach puts the proposal front and center.
OKX currently lacks Korean won support and operates in South Korea without a domestic license. A stake in Coinone would give it a regulated foothold, but the regulatory clock is ticking.
OKX's bigger play
This isn't OKX's only recent tie-up with traditional finance. In March 2026, Intercontinental Exchange — the parent company of the New York Stock Exchange — invested roughly $200 million in OKX at a $25 billion valuation and secured a board seat. That deal came with a commitment to eventually let OKX users access tokenized NYSE-listed stocks and derivatives.
Pair that with a South Korean beachhead, and OKX is positioning itself as a bridge between regulated traditional markets and crypto. But it's not the only player moving: Mirae Asset Consulting bought a 92% stake in Korbit for about $96.7 million, and Hana Financial Group acquired a 6.55% stake in Dunamu, parent of Upbit, for roughly $727 million.
Coinone's shareholders have to agree on price and terms — none of which have been disclosed. Then the FSC will have to weigh in on whether the combined OKX and Korea Investment & Securities stakes trigger the proposed ownership cap. With roughly 30% of South Korea's population holding digital assets as of 2025, the stakes are high for both regulators and exchanges.
