US crypto bill stalls, Korea law delayed — what it means for Naver-Dunamu merger

Market analysts say the planned merger between Naver Financial and Dunamu could face growing headwinds as the US CLARITY Act stalls in the Senate and domestic discussions on a foundational digital asset law in South Korea continue to drag.

In a report released Wednesday, Jung Hae-chang, a researcher at Daishin Securities, said the delay in US legislation "weakens the reference points available for key domestic debates — such as regulations on issuers and exchange shareholding — while also reducing external pressure to accelerate lawmaking in order to close global regulatory arbitrage gaps."

The US Senate held a cloture vote on the CLARITY Act on Tuesday (local time), but the motion failed 49-50, falling well short of the 60 votes needed to advance the bill. The outcome has significantly deepened uncertainty around the legislation's prospects.

Jung said it would be difficult to rule out further delays to the Naver Financial-Dunamu merger schedule if South Korea's digital asset framework law takes longer to enact. The two companies have set Dec. 31 as their planned share-exchange date.

The digital asset framework law could serve as the institutional basis for financial regulators' decisions, Jung said, given that the merger still requires approval from the Korea Fair Trade Commission as well as major-shareholder-related approvals and filings with financial authorities. Naver Financial also stated in a July disclosure that the share exchange and transaction with Dunamu could be affected by the progress of legislation.

A slower pace of domestic regulatory reform could also push back the timeline for Naver's stablecoin business launch. "If the structure for issuing a won-denominated stablecoin or running a payment business is not finalized, uncertainty will inevitably be reflected in the monetization timeline as well," Jung said.

Sluggish trading volume in the digital asset market was also flagged as a risk factor. "The possibility that Dunamu's market valuation could fall below the level assessed at the time the deal was struck is another source of concern," Jung said.

However, Jung noted that while the rollout of digital asset regulations at home and abroad is being delayed, the overall direction toward institutionalizing stablecoins and digital assets has not changed. "The current share price level of Naver does not appear to meaningfully reflect expectations for the activation of the stablecoin business or the business combination with Dunamu," he said.

Jung maintained a "buy" rating on Naver and a target price of 320,000 won ($236) on Wednesday.