South Korea's Coinone is getting two new big-name shareholders. OKX Ventures and Korea Investment & Securities have each picked up roughly 20% of the crypto exchange for $53 million, according to filings this week. The deal places Coinone's value around $132 million and leaves CEO Cha Myung-hoon as the largest single shareholder with 30.36%, while Com2uS Holdings stays second at 24.54%.
Why the two investors came in
Korea Investment & Securities CEO Kim Sung-hwan said the stake is a first step toward expanding into digital assets — tokenized securities, stablecoins, blockchain-based financial services. For OKX Ventures, the venture arm of the global exchange group, it's a foothold in one of Asia's most regulated crypto markets. Coinone said the partnership will help it tap international market know-how and strengthen investor protection, security, and risk management.
Regulatory timing
The investment lands as South Korea's Financial Services Commission pushes a proposal to cap major shareholders' stakes in crypto exchanges at 15% to 20%. That would align governance standards with the public role exchanges now play. The FSC hasn't set a final deadline yet, but the move signals tighter oversight ahead. Coinone's new shareholding structure — two firms at roughly 20% each — sits right at the edge of that proposed ceiling.
Bigger wave of institutional moves
Coinone isn't the only Korean exchange drawing institutional money. In February, Mirae Asset Consulting bought a 92% stake in Korbit for about $88.7 million. Hanwha Investment & Securities upped its holding in Dunamu, operator of Upbit, from 5.94% to 9.84%. Hana Financial Group paid roughly $670 million for a 6.55% stake in Dunamu — the biggest single investment by a Korean bank in a digital asset company. Three Samsung affiliates together took a combined 4% stake in Dunamu for $408 million, aiming to create digital-asset-related opportunities.
Coinone now has a deeper pocket and a global link, but the FSC's ownership cap could force adjustments down the line. The exchange will also need to show regulators it can meet the new governance standards. For Korea Investment & Securities and OKX Ventures, the bet is that Coinone's positioning — and the broader Korean market — will justify the price tag as the regulatory picture becomes clearer.
