Team Naver x Dunamu to invest 10 trillion won in blockchain and AI over five years…aim to secure global lead through mega synergies

Naver, Naver Financial, and Dunamu emphasized that they will seek to secure a leading position in the global technology ecosystem through large-scale investments in blockchain and artificial intelligence (AI).

At their respective board meetings the previous day, Naver, Naver Financial, and Dunamu resolved on a "corporate integration" to incorporate Dunamu into the Naver group through a comprehensive stock swap between Naver Financial and Dunamu, and on the 27th held a joint press briefing at Naver's headquarters, 1784, to explain the three companies' vision for global expansion.

The event was attended by the top management of all three companies, including Naver chairman Lee Hae-jin; Dunamu chairman Song Chi-hyung and vice chairman Kim Hyung-nyeon; Naver CEO Choi Soo-yeon and Dunamu CEO Oh Kyung-seok; and Naver Financial CEO Park Sang-jin.

CEO Choi Soo-yeon emphasized that the current technological momentum—where the trend toward blockchain mass adoption (Mass Adoption) coincides with AI moving into the agentic AI stage, in which it makes judgments and handles tasks autonomously—is an important moment that opens new opportunities.

She explained the background of the corporate integration, stressing that Naver and Dunamu shared the goal of pursuing new innovation globally through this opportunity.

Dunamu vice chairman Kim Hyung-nyeon said, "Tokenization, whereby most assets will be placed on the blockchain and circulated, will spread," and emphasized, "Through this corporate integration, we will create a future in which Korea leads the borderless digital asset market."

If the deal goes through, South Korea's largest internet company and leading search and AI technology firm Naver, Naver Financial—which has 34 million users and an annual payment volume of 80 trillion won—and Dunamu, the operator of Upbit with top-tier global digital asset trading volume in Korea, can pool their respective capabilities to pursue a new global leading position.

The three companies plan to lead the industry by supporting the revitalization of the domestic technology ecosystem—focusing on topics of the era such as AI and Web3—after the integration. They said that, with global players that already have technical and service backgrounds emerging, domestic companies need to build and activate foundational ecosystems to secure competitiveness, and the three companies plan to invest 10 trillion won over five years to foster AI and Web3-related ecosystems.