Dunamu

Market position

Dunamu describes Upbit as the largest and first licensed digital asset exchange in Korea and Upbit NFT as Korea's No. 1 NFT exchange, and Stockplus as the leading finance/investment platform among non-securities firms and operator of Korea's first and largest unlisted-share trading platform. Forbes describes Upbit as South Korea's largest cryptocurrency exchange by daily trading volume.

Dunamu combines a licensed digital asset exchange with mobile securities and unlisted-share trading under one company, and emphasizes security and compliance credentials (first VASP registered in Korea, broad ISMS/ISO certification coverage, in-house AML system, investor protection center) plus proprietary market data such as Korea's first digital asset index.

Technology

Upbit's trading infrastructure includes a digital asset settlement engine upgraded in December 2023 to process KRW 1 quadrillion daily, an independent login system, and multiple information-security management certifications. Dunamu built Korea's first digital asset index (UBCI) and a Digital Asset Fear and Greed Index, developed the DNA (Dunamu Next/New AML) anti-money-laundering system, and reported an in-house AI conversion model rated first on a global evaluation index in January 2024. In September 2025 it announced GIWA, an Ethereum-based layer-2 blockchain. Lambda256 provides the Luniverse platform and Nodit node infrastructure, indexed data pipelines, Web3 APIs and real-time event handlers.

Go-to-market

Mobile-first consumer apps distributed through Google Play and the App Store, complemented by developer and industry events (Upbit D Conference), a Web3 security training program (Upside Academy), sports sponsorship such as the back-of-shirt partnership with Serie A club SSC Napoli, and institutional MOUs such as the agreement between Upbit and ICEx on Indonesian digital asset infrastructure.

Retail investors in Korean, US and unlisted equities; digital asset traders; NFT creators and collectors; institutions and enterprises (Upbit Biz, Upbit Custody); Web3 developers via Lambda256's Nodit platform; and public-sector clients, including custody of seized digital assets for South Korea's National Police Agency.

Geography

Headquartered in South Korea with Korea-focused exchange and securities services. International activity includes Upbit Thailand, which received four provisional digital asset business licenses from the Thai SEC in August 2020, an MOU between Upbit and ICEx on Indonesia's digital asset infrastructure, US stock trading in Stockplus, and a sponsorship of Italian club SSC Napoli.

History

Dunamu Inc. was established in April 2012 and received investment from K Cube Ventures (now Kakao Ventures) in February 2013. It launched the Stockplus mobile investment app in February 2014, took investment from Qualcomm Ventures and Woori Technology Investment in February 2015, and in September 2015 received investment from Kakao alongside an operation contract for Daum Financial Services. Upbit launched in October 2017, followed by Dunamu & Partners (March 2018), Lambda256 (2018, spun off with Luniverse in March 2019), Korea's first digital asset index UBCI (May 2018), Stockplus US stock trading (October 2020), the Digital Asset Fear and Greed Index (January 2021), VASP registration in Korea (October 2021), Upbit NFT and the Second Block metaverse platform (November 2021), Upbitcare (December 2021), Upbit Staking (January 2022), Upside Academy (April 2024), Upbit Data Lab (April 2025), Upbit Custody (August 2025), GIWA (September 2025) and Upbit Biz (December 2025).

Risks & controversies

Forbes reports that Dunamu's valuation fell from a 2021 peak of about $17 billion during the market crash triggered by the bankruptcy of FTX, before investor confidence rebounded amid regulatory easing; the business is subject to digital asset regulation, including VASP registration and anti-money-laundering requirements.