'Too late after legislation' — FOMO over crypto exchange stakes spreads through financial sector

<style ref="s1">"There is a pervasive sense of urgency across the financial sector that the landscape must be shaped before legislation is in place,"</style> one industry official said.

With full-scale discussions on a basic digital assets law expected in the second half of this year, alliances and deals across the financial sector are accelerating. A broad consensus has taken hold that waiting until the market structure is set will be too late, prompting banks and brokerages to compete aggressively to secure exchange stakes and build platforms. Industry insiders say a "FOMO" — fear of missing out — over staking an early claim in the digital asset market has now spread across the entire financial sector.

<style ref="s2">Kiwoom also pursues Bithumb investment —</style> Kiwoom Securities and Bithumb are in talks over a stake investment through a third-party allotment capital increase, under which Bithumb would issue new shares for Kiwoom Securities to acquire, according to financial industry sources Sunday. The size of the investment and the resulting ownership stake are still being negotiated. Bithumb said it is also exploring various forms of cooperation with other financial firms and companies beyond Kiwoom Securities, and that nothing has been finalized.

Industry observers expect the deal to take the form of a "club deal" in which several financial firms participate jointly rather than a single brokerage acquiring a large stake on its own. Shared ownership of an exchange stake reduces the financial burden while allowing participants to respond flexibly to future regulatory changes. Coinone, for instance, already has a dispersed ownership structure with Korea Investment Holdings and OKX among its major shareholders.

"A joint investment by three or four firms is less burdensome than going it alone and opens up more strategic options down the road," one industry official said, adding that most large financial firms with substantial equity capital — not just Kiwoom Securities — are looking into exchange investment possibilities. A digital asset analyst noted that Bithumb and Kiwoom Securities each command strong user bases in virtual assets and stock trading, respectively, and that cooperation between the two could generate significant cross-selling among customers.

Major financial firms have already been moving in quick succession. Samsung Securities, together with Samsung SDS and Samsung Card, acquired a combined 4.0 percent stake in Dunamu held by Kakao affiliates. Hanwha Investment Securities purchased additional Dunamu shares, raising its total holding to 9.84 percent. Mirae Asset Consulting, an affiliate of Mirae Asset Group, acquired a 92.06 percent stake in virtual asset exchange Korbit for approximately 133.5 billion won ($86.5 million), securing management control.

A sense of urgency — that acting only after regulations are in place will already be too late — has also spread broadly across the financial sector. The concern is that if firms wait until the basic digital assets law is enacted in the second half of this year before pursuing exchange acquisitions or platform development, valuations will have risen and first-mover advantage will have been lost. "There is a widespread view that Mirae Asset moved preemptively before the market heated up and secured a foundation for its digital asset business at a relatively favorable price," one industry official said.

"With talk of imminent legislation continuing and the possibility of regulatory changes — such as caps on financial firms' exchange ownership stakes — being raised, exchanges also need to move proactively," said one financial sector official overseeing digital asset business. "The more concrete the regulations become, the more likely exchange valuations are to rise further."

<style ref="s3">Before valuations climb further — Mirae Asset's early move sets the pace —</style> The deeper reason brokerages have been so aggressive in securing exchange stakes is long-term platform competitiveness. Building a platform that connects crypto investors and stock investors within a single ecosystem is seen as the key to sustained competitive advantage. "The ultimate goal will be a so-called Robin Hood model — trading both stocks and virtual assets together within a brokerage's mobile trading system," one industry official said.

Brokerages and exchanges also see an opportunity to expand into wealth management and develop new revenue streams. As collaboration extends to virtual asset ETFs, security tokens and real-world asset tokenization, exchanges could evolve into distribution platforms for financial products while brokerages and asset managers take on the role of product suppliers. There is also growing expectation that regulatory reform will eventually allow deposits, stocks and digital assets to be managed together within a single brokerage account.

Brokerages are already moving to integrate digital assets into their existing investment platforms. Mirae Asset Securities recently unveiled its next-generation global investment platform, MAPS (Mirae Asset Portfolio Service), through its Hong Kong subsidiary. MAPS is an integrated investment platform designed to allow trading of both traditional financial assets such as stocks and digital assets within a single mobile interface.

Mirae Asset Securities obtained a digital asset retail license from Hong Kong's Securities and Futures Commission in April and plans to use MAPS as the foundation for a phased expansion of AI-driven wealth management services and global investment features. Industry observers say that if digital asset institutionalization advances in South Korea as well, similar moves are likely to become a standard business model for domestic brokerages.