---
title: "Mirae Asset Korbit acquisition closes with 97.15% stake"
author: "Caleb Mwangi"
datePublished: 2026-07-23T05:46:00.000Z
canonical: "https://scramnews.com/post/00tilpc0ragmp/mirae-asset-korbit-acquisition-97-stake"
---

Mirae Asset Financial Group raised its stake in South Korean crypto exchange Korbit to 97.15 per cent on Thursday after affiliate Mirae Asset Consulting [completed the acquisition](https://www.korbit.co.kr/notice/detail/?noticeId=4I2XTU3WIlGniG3mdcSuaF), according to Korbit’s notice to users and local media reports. The closing makes Mirae Asset the first major Korean financial group to control a domestic crypto exchange, [The Korea Times reported](https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/economy/cryptocurrency/20260723/mirae-asset-completes-korbit-acquisition-becomes-1st-financial-group-to-control-crypto-exchange).

For the last piece of the transaction, Mirae Asset bought 1,589,859 Korbit shares for 7.88 billion won, local coverage carried by [Aju Press](https://www.ajupress.com/view/20260723102870619) said. The Korea Times put earlier cumulative investment at 133.5 billion won before that add-on. [The Korea Herald reported](https://www.koreaherald.com/article/10816560) that the extra block would lift Mirae Asset from slightly above 92 per cent ownership to near-total control, although local reports differed on the exact pre-close stake. What matters now is the post-close number: Mirae Asset controls almost all of Korbit.

That moves the story from coin prices to market plumbing. A mainstream asset manager has bought the venue itself. The 97.15 per cent stake leaves only a thin minority position outside Mirae Asset’s hands.

Regulators did not treat the deal as a reshaping of Korea’s trading market. Korbit held only 0.5 per cent of the country’s cryptocurrency trading market in 2025, according to the Fair Trade Commission review cited by The Korea Times. The more useful precedent is that South Korean authorities cleared a financial group to fold exchange infrastructure into a regulated business, giving other institutions a template if they want something stronger than a passive digital-asset stake.

Korbit told users in its [shareholder-change notice](https://www.korbit.co.kr/notice/detail/?noticeId=4I2XTU3WIlGniG3mdcSuaF) that services, deposits, withdrawals and personal-data handling would continue without change after the transfer. In an exchange deal, that pledge does real work. Customers care less about who owns the shares than whether withdrawals clear and account data stays protected. Comments carried by [Aju Press](https://www.ajupress.com/view/20260723102870619) described the new ownership as a platform-strengthening move rather than a wager on token prices.

> We will further strengthen user protection and service competitiveness and continue to grow as a trusted digital asset platform.
>
> Korbit, via Aju Press

## Why control matters

Mirae Asset Consulting used similar language, saying the purchase would [“secure future growth momentum based on digital assets”](https://www.theblock.co/post/409485/mirae-asset-completes-acquisition-korbit?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss), according to The Block. Broad phrasing aside, the structure of the deal is specific. Full control gives Mirae Asset exposure to exchange operations, client onboarding, compliance systems and customer relationships. For a traditional financial group, those pieces can be more useful than holding tokens or backing someone else’s platform.

Exchange ownership in South Korea carries more than trading fees. A parent company gets a compliance stack, a branded consumer entry point and a place to test digital-asset savings, brokerage links or institutional services without building a venue from scratch. Korbit’s small share limits the immediate competitive shock, but licences, operating history and an existing user base still have strategic value if regulation keeps favouring supervised channels.

Similar logic is spreading across crypto finance. Ownership of market plumbing gives incumbents room to build custody partnerships, packaged products and future institutional services as Korean rules move digital assets closer to mainstream distribution. Korbit’s closing suggests Korean finance is starting to treat exchange ownership as part of the next contest for market infrastructure, especially when regulators are willing to approve deals that do not concentrate trading share.

The harder work begins after the paperwork. Mirae Asset has to show that tighter control of Korbit can produce stronger compliance, better customer protection and a clearer institutional use case for digital-asset services. If it can, the acquisition may look less like a niche crypto transaction and more like an early claim on the pipes that traditional finance wants to own.