Korean Crypto Exchange Coinone to Sell Major Stakeholder Shares

Key Highlights

Coinone’s Chairman and main shareholder, Cha Myung-hoon, is contemplating promoting half or all of his 53.44% controlling stake within the alternate.
Coinone is underneath monetary strain, with its guide worth having fallen to ₩75.2 billion (roughly $52.2 million), pushed by sturdy competitors from Upbit and Bithumb, excessive regulatory compliance prices, and the present business slowdown.
U.S.-based Coinbase is holding early-stage discussions with Coinone throughout a go to to South Korea this week, with subjects probably together with fairness funding, strategic partnership, or deeper involvement.

South Korea’s third-largest cryptocurrency alternate by buying and selling quantity Coinone, is reportedly exploring choices to promote a portion of the controlling stake held by its Chairman and main shareholder, Cha Myung-hoon.

As per native reports, Coinone is trying to cashout on main stakeholding with hypothesis about potential involvement from international gamers like Coinbase. The transfer comes amid broader consolidation pressures in South Korea’s tightly regulated crypto sector.

In keeping with stories from Seoul Financial Each day, Coinone has initiated a course of to divest half or all of Cha Myung-hoon’s 53.44% possession curiosity. This stake is break up between Cha’s private holdings (roughly 19.14%) and shares managed via his affiliated entity, The One Group. One other vital shareholder, South Korean gaming firm Com2uS, holds 38.42% of the corporate.

Monetary pressures immediate stake evaluate

The information breaks in opposition to a backdrop of declining monetary metrics. Business sources point out that Coinone’s guide worth fell to 75.2 billion Korean gained (roughly $52.2 million USD) within the third quarter of 2026. This represents a notable drop of twenty-two.64% from its earlier valuation of 94.4 billion Korean gained.

Whereas the crypto business is presently navigating via a quiet down interval, the stake sell-off displays challenges together with intense home competitors from market leaders Upbit and Bithumb. Moreover, ongoing regulatory compliance prices in a maturing crypto market additionally stays a hurdle.

South Korea’s crypto exchanges have confronted heightened scrutiny from regulators such because the Monetary Companies Fee (FSC) and the Korea Monetary Intelligence Unit (FIU). Current years have seen penalties imposed on a number of platforms for anti-money laundering (AML) and real-name account compliance points.

Learn: $110B Crypto Exodus: Why Koreans Are Leaving Domestic Exchanges

Coinbase eyes strategic entry into the Korean market

The report from Seoul Financial Each day additionally famous that the U.S.-based Coinbase is planning discussions with Coinone throughout a go to to South Korea this week. Sources describe the talks as preliminary, probably protecting fairness funding, strategic cooperation, or perhaps a fuller acquisition situation.

Coinbase has not but confirmed something relating to the matter whereas Coinone representatives have characterised the outreach as early-stage exploratory discussions with abroad exchanges and home monetary establishments. “Nothing has been determined,” they emphasised.

Coinbase’s curiosity aligns with its broader Asia-Pacific enlargement technique, the place gaining a foothold in regulated markets like South Korea may present entry to stylish retail and institutional customers.

Business context: Consolidation and regulatory headwinds

South Korea stays one of many world’s most lively crypto buying and selling jurisdictions per capita, regardless of strict guidelines on leverage, international alternate controls, and digital asset service supplier (VASP) licensing.

The potential transaction underscores ongoing consolidation tendencies in South Korea’s crypto panorama. With three main exchanges traditionally dominating throughout the nation—together with Upbit, Bithumb, Coinone—the sector has seen mergers, acquisitions, and strategic partnerships as platforms search scale to satisfy rising compliance burdens and compete for liquidity.