Upbit operator Dunamu vows to go global

Dunamu, the operator of Korea’s largest cryptocurrency exchange Upbit, aims to become a global platform for all types of exchanges, its chief said Tuesday.

“In the future, Dunamu will establish a trading channel for all digital assets to discover new opportunities such as metaverses and non-fungible tokens,” said Dunamu CEO Lee Sirgoo in an online press conference held on its recently-launched metaverse platform 2ndblock.

“Taking a step further from being a platform for stocks and cryptocurrencies, we will expand the platform to other digital assets and NFTs. We will secure a meaningful foundation for global growth beyond Korea by utilizing our digital-oriented characteristics.”

According to the CEO, the cryptocurrency exchange raked in 2.82 trillion won ($2.38 billion) in revenues as of September this year, up about 16 times from the previous year’s sum. In the same period, Dunamu’s operating profit recorded 2.59 trillion won.

“The strength of Dunamu is that it connects transaction of valuable targets more conveniently and safely than anyone else through technology. We will apply this success method once more to connect the blockchain world and real world, and expand the range of transactions,” Lee said.

Upbit, Dunamu’s cryptocurrency exchange, had 8.9 million users and 53 trillion won in customer deposit as of November, according to the company. Lee explained that the number of Upbit users tripled over the past year as more people began to invest in stocks and cryptocurrency with an increase in the amount of current assets amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Aside from the success of Upbit, Dumanu’s stock trading app Stockplus has also recorded 6 million downloads with the total trading volume at 187 trillion won.

Mentioning the plan to establish a joint venture with Hybe -- home of BTS -- in the US next year, the CEO said the company will look to cooperate with other entertainment firms to push for issuing NFTs based on intellectual property.

In regard to the rumors surrounding Dunamu’s possibility of going public on the Nasdaq market as Coupang and Coinbase did earlier this year, the official said nothing has been confirmed about the company’s initial public offering.

While admitting that investment banks and accounting firms came for a meeting after the reports that pointed to the possibility of Dumanu’s IPO on the US stock market, Lee said the company will eventually go public. But there are no detailed plans now as to when and where it would happen, he added.

By Kan Hyeong-woo (hwkan@heraldcorp.com)