Korea’s Dunamu, to partner with MB Bank to build Vietnam’s first crypto exchange

SEOUL, Aug. 13 (UPI) — Dunamu, which operates South Korea’s leading cryptocurrency exchange, Upbit, said Wednesday the company would work with Vietnam’s MB Bank to build the Southeast Asian country’s first digital asset platform.

Toward that end, the firms signed a memorandum of understanding on the sidelines of a forum in Seoul, which hundreds of bureaucrats and businesspeople from the two countries attended.

Under the agreement, Dunamu will help MB Bank set up a cryptocurrency exchange and put in place the related regulatory framework, including a customer protection system.

As a subsidiary of Vietnam’s Ministry of National Defense, MB Bank is one of the country’s four largest lenders. With total assets that approach $50 billion, it has spearheaded the nationwide digital transformation, especially in the financial sector.

“The mixture of Vietnam’s growth potential and Dunamu’s proven Upbit model will give a significant opportunity to go beyond simply establishing a crypto exchange and design the entire national digital financial infrastructure based on trust,” Dunamu CEO Oh Kyoung-suk said in a statement.

According to CoinGecko, a crypto tracker, Upbit is a dominant crypto platform in South Korea, with a market share of nearly 65%. By trading volumes, Dunamu claims that Upbit is the world’s No. 3 player.

“Dunamu is one of the most profitable companies in Korea in terms of operating margin. To continue its growth momentum, Dunamu should tap into the global markets,” Sogang University professor Yoon Seok-bin told UPI.

“And Vietnam appears to be the right place as the country is expected to face a rapid growth in the digital asset markets,” he added.

The Seoul-based corporation posted $1.25 billion in sales in 2024, up 70.5% from a year before, for an operating profit of $858 million, up 85.1%.