South Korean brokerages are ramping up exchange investments and security-token infrastructure ahead of February legal changes, with Mirae Asset rebranding Korbit as Digital X and rivals backing Coinone and Dunamu.
South Korea’s biggest brokerages are accelerating digital-asset expansion before revised laws governing security tokens take effect next February. Mirae Asset Consulting completed its purchase of the remaining Korbit stake on July 24, raising ownership to 97.15% by acquiring 28,495,701 shares for 141.37 billion won ($102.4 million), and has rebranded the exchange as Digital X under a strategy centered on real-world asset tokenization, security tokens, stablecoins and closer links between traditional and digital finance. Korea Investment & Securities has also moved into Coinone after the Financial Intelligence Unit accepted a filing tied to an 80 billion won investment alongside OKX Ventures, while Hanwha Investment & Securities increased its Dunamu stake to 9.84% and Samsung affiliates agreed to acquire a combined 4% stake in Dunamu. The push comes as amendments to the Electronic Securities Act and the Capital Markets Act, passed in January, are set to permit distributed-ledger-based securities ledgers and the brokerage of investment-contract securities from next February. Brokerages are responding by building issuance and trading platforms as well as taking strategic stakes in crypto exchanges, though analysts warn that many security tokens may be tied to assets that are harder to value and trade than listed equities, making underlying asset quality, profit structure and liquidity key investor checks.