Original | Odaily Planet Daily (@OdailyChina)

Author | Azuma (@azuma_eth)

On July 24, Beijing time, Nvidia officially announced its investment of $1 billion in South Korean internet giant Naver to further strengthen South Korea's AI infrastructure development. According to subsequent disclosures from Naver, Nvidia will acquire approximately 4.5% of Naver's shares through this strategic investment, becoming one of Naver's significant shareholders.

This investment is not merely a financial stake; it will involve further in-depth strategic cooperation centered around AI data centers. Bloomberg added that the funds invested by Nvidia will support the AI data center project currently being constructed by Naver in collaboration with the U.S. private equity firm Brookfield, which will fully adopt Nvidia's AI computing hardware, with the overall scale expected to expand to more than double its previous size.

For Nvidia, this investment in Naver is an important step in its continuous expansion regarding AI computing power, data centers, and supply chain systems; for Naver, this cooperation will further enhance its position in the competition for AI infrastructure in South Korea.

Naver's other identity is the “quasi” parent company of Upbit

For the cryptocurrency industry, Nvidia's acquisition of a stake in Naver has drawn extra attention, not due to Naver's own AI infrastructure layout, but because the company is currently advancing an important transaction in the South Korean cryptocurrency sector through its financial subsidiary Naver Financial—acquiring Upbit's parent company Dunamu.

Naver Financial was established in 2017 and is mainly responsible for operating payment services like Naver Pay.

As early as 2021, Naver showed strong interest in the cryptocurrency field, attempting to acquire the mainstream South Korean cryptocurrency exchange Bithumb. Although it ultimately did not succeed, this move revealed its ambitions for digital assets.

Although the initial attempt was unsuccessful, Naver did not stop exploring the cryptocurrency field.

In 2025, Naver Financial began in-depth cooperation with Dunamu and gradually extended its business into the digital asset payment sector—both parties had discussions around a Korean won stablecoin payment cooperation, with Naver Pay handling payment scenarios and Dunamu providing technical support related to digital assets.

On September 25 of the same year, Naver Financial officially announced it would co-promote a share swap transaction with Dunamu to achieve full acquisition of the latter. According to the plan released by both parties, Naver Financial will issue new shares in exchange for the shares held by Dunamu's shareholders. Upon completion of the transaction, Dunamu will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Naver Financial, and Upbit will also enter Naver's ecosystem.

• Odaily Note: For more details, see "From missing out on Bithumb to acquiring Upbit: The evolution of Naver's cryptocurrency ambitions".

As one of South Korea's largest cryptocurrency exchanges, Upbit was launched by Dunamu in 2017 and has long occupied a significant position in South Korea's digital asset trading market. If this transaction is successfully completed, it will signify a deep integration between South Korea's traditional internet giants and cryptocurrency trading platforms.

According to previous reports from South Korean media, the share swap transaction between Naver Financial and Dunamu is valued at approximately $9.9 billion, and upon completion, it is expected to create one of the largest financial technology enterprises in South Korea.

However, due to some unexpected reasons, the transaction has not yet been completed as of now.

Acquisition intent has been reached, but stuck in antitrust regulation

According to the initial plan between Naver Financial and Dunamu, both parties hoped to complete the integration by 2026. However, due to involving multiple regulatory areas related to South Korean finance, digital assets, and large corporate combinations, the approval progress for the transaction has not been smooth.

Among them, the largest obstacle comes from the antitrust review by the Korean Fair Trade Commission (FTC). As Naver is an important enterprise in South Korea's internet sector and Upbit has long held a leading position in the South Korean cryptocurrency trading market, the combination of the two companies could potentially create a massive business system covering payments, financial services, and digital asset trading; thus, regulators need to assess whether it will impact market competition.

In addition, this transaction also involves multiple regulatory approval steps, including approvals related to changes in Naver Financial's largest shareholder and relevant declarations made by Dunamu under South Korea's "Specific Financial Transaction Information Act."

In July 2026, Naver Financial and Dunamu again announced the postponement of the transaction completion time, with the share swap transaction originally scheduled for completion in September 2026 being pushed back to December 31 of this year.

However, both parties have not given up on this transaction. Naver Financial stated that the company will still actively cooperate with the regulatory review process and promote the smooth completion of the transaction; Dunamu also emphasized that the cooperation between both parties aims to enhance the competitiveness of South Korean enterprises in the digital finance field.

Although the acquisition intent between Naver and Dunamu has long been unified, whether this approximately $9.9 billion transaction will ultimately be realized still depends on the final regulatory approvals, which will also determine whether Upbit officially becomes part of Naver’s financial landscape.

So, will Nvidia really become a shareholder of Upbit?

Will Nvidia really become a shareholder of Upbit? Based on the current acquisition progress between Naver and Dunamu, strictly speaking, the answer is still no.

Nvidia will acquire approximately 4.5% of Naver's shares, rather than directly holding any equity in Upbit or its parent company Dunamu. If in the future the full acquisition transaction between Naver and Dunamu proceeds smoothly, as Upbit integrates into Naver’s financial system, the exchange may indeed form an indirect capital connection with Nvidia.

However, currently, this remains a future potential relationship. A more accurate description of the current situation is that Upbit, the top cryptocurrency exchange in South Korea, has an incomplete capital connection path with Nvidia, the world's largest market capitalization giant.

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