Exclusive: Naver Makes First Investment in US Crypto Payments Firm Rain Ahead of Planned Merger

Joins Rain’s $250 Million Series C Round

Move Aims to Expand Naver Pay’s Overseas Payments Network

Could Reach Merchants in 150 Countries

Naver Corp. has invested in Rain, a US digital-asset payments infrastructure company, as it looks to strengthen a stablecoin payments business using the startup’s technology linking the Visa network with stablecoin transactions. The move is also expected to create synergies if the delayed merger between Naver Financial and Dunamu is completed.

Naver Ventures, Naver’s Silicon Valley investment arm, recently participated in Rain’s $250 million Series C funding round, according to industry officials on July 14. It was the first time Naver Ventures had invested in a crypto company. The amount of its investment was not disclosed.

Founded in 2021, Rain has drawn attention for infrastructure technology that enables stablecoin-based payments over the existing Visa card network. Rain is also a principal member of Visa, allowing it to issue cards and handle settlement directly with Visa without a bank intermediary.

When a Rain-issued card is used at a Visa merchant, the customer’s stablecoins are automatically converted into local currency and settled with the merchant. The state of Wyoming last year also partnered with Rain to launch a physical card that allows payments using its stablecoin, FRNT, to broaden the token’s use.

The investment is viewed as groundwork for expanding a stablecoin payments business into global markets after Naver Financial merges with Dunamu. Alongside remittances, crypto payments are considered a key future growth business. “Stablecoin-based payments, settlement and remittances drive settlement costs close to zero, so combining stablecoins with Naver Pay’s payments network would have a major impact on the fintech industry,” a fintech industry official said.

Naver is also pushing to expand Naver Pay’s payment network overseas, with more than 80% of its transaction volume still generated domestically as of last year. Naver Financial has been adding overseas merchants through tie-ups including Alipay+. Combined with Rain’s technology, stablecoin-based payments could be processed immediately at about 150 million Visa merchants in roughly 150 countries.

The key variable is the outcome of the merger review involving Naver Financial and Dunamu. The review remains stalled at agencies including the Fair Trade Commission. Since the merger was announced in November 2025, the timing of the companies’ share swap has already been delayed twice because of the prolonged review.

The Regulatory Reform Committee, a presidential advisory body, assigned the matter to its growth subcommittee for review on July 24 as it examines proposed revisions to the enforcement decree of the Act on Reporting and Using Specified Financial Transaction Information. The review will examine whether a 200 million won fine imposed in September 2025 affects eligibility to qualify as a largest shareholder. The issue stems from a court ruling that Naver violated fair-trade law by imposing conditions that prevented property listings on its real estate platform from being shared with Kakao and others. “Naver is preparing to enter the virtual-asset market on the assumption that the merger will go through,” a crypto industry official said. “If the merger falls through, that would also affect its investment business.”

Heo Jin, Korea Economic Daily reporter hjin@hankyung.com