On July 24th, Beijing Time, NVIDIA officially announced a $1 billion investment in the South Korean Internet giant Naver to further strengthen South Korea's AI infrastructure. According to Naver's subsequent disclosure, NVIDIA will acquire approximately 4.5% of Naver's shares through this strategic investment, becoming one of Naver's key shareholders.
This investment is not merely a financial stake but will involve further deep strategic cooperation around AI data centers. Bloomberg added to the report, stating that the funds injected by NVIDIA will support Naver's ongoing AI data center project, a project developed jointly by Naver and the U.S. private equity firm Brookfield. The data center is expected to double in scale and will fully adopt NVIDIA's AI computing hardware.
For NVIDIA, this investment in Naver is a significant step in its continuous expansion around AI computing power, data centers, and supply chain system. For Naver, this cooperation will enhance its position in the competition for South Korea's AI infrastructure.
Another Role of Naver, as the "Quasi" Parent Company of Upbit
For the cryptocurrency industry, NVIDIA's investment in Naver has attracted additional attention not because of Naver's AI infrastructure layout but rather because the company is currently advancing a crucial transaction involving the South Korean cryptocurrency industry through its financial subsidiary Naver Financial—acquiring Dunamu, the parent company of Upbit.
Established in 2017, Naver Financial is mainly responsible for operating services like Naver Pay.
As early as 2021, Naver demonstrated a strong interest in the cryptocurrency field, attempting to acquire the major South Korean cryptocurrency exchange Bithumb. Although the attempt was unsuccessful, it signaled its ambition in digital assets.
Despite the initial setback, Naver did not halt its exploration of the cryptocurrency field.
In 2025, Naver Financial began deep cooperation with Dunamu, gradually extending its business into the realm of digital asset payments. The two parties discussed collaboration on the South Korean won stablecoin payment business, with Naver Pay handling the payment scenarios and Dunamu providing technical support for digital assets.
On September 25 of the same year, Naver Financial officially announced that it would collaborate with Dunamu to carry out a stock swap transaction, aiming to achieve full acquisition of the latter. According to the plan disclosed by both parties, Naver Financial will issue new shares to exchange for the shares held by Dunamu shareholders. Upon completion of the transaction, Dunamu will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Naver Financial, and its subsidiary Upbit will also become part of the Naver ecosystem.
As one of South Korea's largest cryptocurrency exchanges, Upbit was launched by Dunamu in 2017 and has since maintained a significant presence in the South Korean digital asset trading market. If this transaction is successfully completed, it will signify a profound integration between a South Korean traditional internet giant and a cryptocurrency exchange platform.
According to information previously disclosed by South Korean media, the stock swap transaction between Naver Financial and Dunamu is valued at approximately $9.9 billion, and upon completion, is expected to create one of the largest fintech companies in South Korea.
However, due to some unforeseen reasons, as of now, this transaction has not been completed.
The Acquisition Intention Has Been Reached, but Stalled at Antitrust Regulation
According to the initial plan of Naver Financial and Dunamu, both parties had hoped to complete the integration within 2026. However, due to involvement across multiple regulatory areas such as South Korea's finance, digital assets, and large-scale corporate mergers, the progress of the transaction approval has not been smooth.
The primary obstacle comes from the antitrust review by the South Korean Fair Trade Commission (FTC). Given that Naver is a significant player in the South Korean internet sector and Upbit has long dominated the South Korean cryptocurrency trading market, the merger of the two companies could potentially create a vast business system covering payment, financial services, and digital asset trading. Therefore, regulatory agencies need to assess whether this will impact market competition.
In addition, this transaction also involves multiple regulatory approval steps, including approval related to changes in Naver Financial's largest shareholder and filings required by Dunamu under South Korea's Specific Financial Transactions Information Act.
In July 2026, Naver Financial and Dunamu once again announced a delay in the completion of the transaction, postponing the stock swap transaction originally scheduled to be completed by September 2026 to December 31 of this year.
However, both parties have not given up on this transaction. Naver Financial has stated that the company will continue to actively cooperate with the regulatory review process and work to ensure a smooth transaction completion. On the other hand, Dunamu has also emphasized that the partnership aims to enhance the competitive position of South Korean enterprises in the digital finance field.
Although the acquisition intention between Naver and Dunamu has long been agreed upon, whether this approximately $9.9 billion transaction can ultimately be finalized still depends on final regulatory approval, which will also determine whether Upbit officially becomes part of Naver's financial ecosystem.
So, is NVIDIA really becoming a shareholder of Upbit?
Is NVIDIA really becoming a shareholder of Upbit? Based on the current progress of the acquisition between Naver and Dunamu, the strict answer is still negative.
NVIDIA will acquire about 4.5% of Naver's shares, rather than directly holding any equity of Upbit or its parent company Dunamu. If the future full acquisition transaction between Naver and Dunamu proceeds smoothly, with Upbit being integrated into Naver's financial system, the trading platform does indeed have the potential to have an indirect equity relationship with NVIDIA at the shareholding level.
However, this is still only a possible future scenario. A more accurate description of the current situation is that there is an unfinished capital connection path between Upbit, South Korea's Top 1 cryptocurrency exchange, and NVIDIA, the world's Top 1 market cap behemoth.
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