Upbit's Dunamu reports $1B revenue in 2025 as trading cools

• Dunamu reported an annual revenue of 1.56 trillion won ($1.03 billion) for 2025, representing a 10% decline compared to the previous year.
• Operating profit plummeted by 26.7% to 869.3 billion won, while net profit saw a 27.9% drop as trading volumes on the Upbit platform cooled.
• The planned merger with Naver Financial has been delayed by three months due to regulatory hurdles and licensing approvals.

Financial Performance and Market Cooling

Dunamu, the entity behind South Korea's prominent cryptocurrency exchange Upbit, faced a challenging fiscal year in 2025. The company's consolidated operating revenue reached 1.56 trillion won ($1.03 billion), a significant decrease from the 1.73 trillion won ($1.1 billion) recorded in 2024. This downturn was primarily driven by a stabilization of the cryptocurrency market following a period of high-intensity trading.

The decline was even more pronounced in profitability metrics. Operating profit fell to 869.3 billion won ($573 million), and net profit ended the year at 708.9 billion won ($468 million). These figures reflect the high sensitivity of the company's bottom line to fluctuations in market activity and investor sentiment within the digital asset space.

Revenue Streams and Asset Composition

The vast majority of Dunamu's income remains tied to its core exchange operations. Trading platform commissions accounted for 1.53 trillion won ($1.01 billion), which constitutes 98.3% of the total revenue. In contrast, supplementary services such as the Securities Plus app and various blockchain infrastructure projects contributed 27.1 billion won ($17.9 million), or roughly 1.7% of the total.

Key data regarding the company's financial standing at the end of 2025 includes:

• Total Assets: 13.17 trillion won ($8.7 billion), down 2.15 trillion won from 2024.
• Current Assets: Decreased by 2.18 trillion won, largely due to a reduction in customer deposits.
• Business Diversification: Includes Upbit NFT, Upbit Staking, and blockchain platforms Luniverse and Nodit.

Strategic Mergers and Future Prospects

A major corporate development involves Naver Financial, the fintech division of the tech giant Naver. While a share-swap merger was announced in November 2025 to make Dunamu a wholly-owned subsidiary, the transaction has been pushed back by approximately three months. This delay is attributed to changes in the regulatory framework and necessary licensing approvals.

Looking forward, Dunamu is reportedly preparing for an initial public offering (IPO) on the Nasdaq. Furthermore, in partnership with Naver, the company intends to invest 10 trillion won ($6.8 billion) into the development of financial infrastructure powered by artificial intelligence and blockchain technology, signaling a long-term commitment to institutional digital finance.