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Discussion of financial investment through new share issuance
Coinone: "We are not considering investment negotiations based on management rights"
Korea Investment & Securities is reportedly pursuing a plan to acquire a stake in Coinone along with global virtual asset exchange OKX.
OKX is a large exchange that stands shoulder to shoulder with Binance, Coinbase, and others, and if the investment is successful, its impact on the domestic virtual asset market entry is noteworthy.
According to industry sources on the 15th, Korea Investment & Securities and OKX are discussing a plan to each acquire approximately 20% of Coinone's shares.
The specific investment method is likely to be a structure that maximizes capital inflow, focusing on new share issuance rather than the sale of existing shares.
Accordingly, this equity participation appears to be strongly characterized as a financial investment where Coinone's management rights will not change.
Currently, Coinone's major shareholders consist of The One Group (34.30% stake), Com2uS Holdings[063080] (21.95%), CEO Cha Myung-hoon (19.14%), and Com2uS Plus (16.47%).
CEO Cha, Coinone's founder, is also the largest shareholder of The One Group.
However, industry observers suggest that OKX may not stop at simple financial investment in the future, but may also consider management participation or securing actual influence.
In such a case, it would be the second attempt by a major overseas exchange to secure management rights of a Korean Won exchange, following Binance's acquisition of a stake in Streami (Gopax).
Here, the direction of legal and institutional reforms currently being coordinated by the ruling party and the government, such as restrictions on major shareholders' stakes in virtual asset exchanges, could act as a key variable.
In this regard, Coinone stated, "We are discussing partnerships, including strategic equity investments with various companies, but nothing has been finalized yet," adding, "We are not considering investment negotiations based on management rights." Recently, domestic virtual asset exchanges have been expanding their contact points with large financial companies, and the entire industry is undergoing unprecedented upheaval.
For example, Mirae Asset Consulting, an affiliate of Mirae Asset Group, decided to acquire a 92.06% stake in Korbit for 133.5 billion won and is currently awaiting the results of the Fair Trade Commission's corporate merger review.
In addition, Hana Bank decided to acquire a 6.55% stake in Dunamu, which operates Upbit, for 1.0033 trillion won to jointly promote foreign currency remittance and Korean Won stablecoin businesses.
An industry official said, "If OKX participates in a domestic exchange's equity investment, it means that the alliances within and outside the digital asset ecosystem are expanding overseas."
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