Korbit Acquisition Talks With Mirae Asset Unfold as South Korea Slaps Exchange With $1.9 Million AML Fine

Deal Negotiations Collide With Regulatory Scrutiny at One of Korea’s Oldest Crypto Exchanges

TL;DR

• Mirae Asset Group is in talks to acquire Korbit at a reported valuation of $70 million to $100 million through a non-financial affiliate.
• Days after the talks surfaced, South Korea’s FIU fined Korbit 27.3 billion won ($1.9 million) over roughly 22,000 AML violations identified in a 2024 inspection.
• The enforcement action highlights deep compliance failures and complicates the exchange’s strategic future amid consolidation in Korea’s crypto market.

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Mirae Asset Group has entered negotiations to acquire South Korean cryptocurrency exchange Korbit in a deal that could value the platform between 100 billion won and 140 billion won, or roughly $70 million to $100 million, according to local reports published in late December 2025. The talks place one of the country’s most established financial conglomerates in line to take control of South Korea’s fourth-largest crypto exchange by daily trading volume, though the structure of the deal reflects the regulatory sensitivities surrounding digital assets in the country. 

The acquisition discussions are being led by Mirae Asset Consulting, a non-financial subsidiary of the group, which has reportedly signed a memorandum of understanding with Korbit’s major shareholders. Market observers view the choice of vehicle as a deliberate effort to navigate South Korea’s long-standing policy separating regulated financial institutions from direct ownership of crypto businesses.

Ownership details underscore why Korbit has become a takeover target rather than a market leader. The exchange is primarily controlled by NXC, the holding company behind gaming giant Nexon, which owns about 60.5% of the company, while SK Planet holds a further 31.5% stake following a 90 billion won investment in 2021. Founded in 2013, Korbit was South Korea’s first cryptocurrency exchange and the world’s first platform to offer Bitcoin trading against the Korean won. 

Despite its early-mover status, the exchange now accounts for less than 1% of domestic trading volume, leaving it overshadowed by larger rivals and positioning it as a legacy asset amid ongoing consolidation in the country’s crypto sector. Mirae Asset’s interest appears less about immediate market share and more about acquiring licensed infrastructure that could be reshaped under tighter institutional oversight.

Regulatory pressure intensified almost immediately after the acquisition talks became public. On December 31, 2025, South Korea’s Financial Intelligence Unit announced that it had imposed an institutional warning and fines totaling 27.3 billion won, equivalent to about $1.9 million, on Korbit following a comprehensive on-site inspection conducted from October 16 to October 29, 2024. The FIU said the probe uncovered approximately 22,000 violations of the country’s anti-money laundering rules, pointing to systemic weaknesses rather than isolated compliance lapses. 

According to the regulator, more than 12,800 cases involved failures in customer identification, including acceptance of incomplete or unclear identity documents, approval of accounts with missing or improperly recorded addresses, and lapses in re-verifying customer identities when required. Transactions were also allowed to proceed for customers whose money-laundering risk ratings had been upgraded, without the enhanced checks mandated under Korean law.

Additional breaches compounded the findings. Roughly 9,100 violations were linked to transaction-restriction failures, where Korbit permitted trading activity for customers whose identity verification had not been completed. The FIU also cited 19 crypto asset transfers involving three overseas virtual asset service providers that were not registered in South Korea, transactions explicitly prohibited under the Specified Financial Transaction Information Act. Beyond core trading activity, regulators identified 655 further violations tied to Korbit’s failure to conduct money-laundering risk assessments before supporting new products, including certain NFT-related services. 

Enforcement measures extended to management accountability, with the exchange’s chief executive receiving a formal caution and its compliance reporting officer issued a reprimand. Emphasizing the broader implications of the case, the FIU said strengthening AML capabilities among virtual asset service providers is essential for the crypto market to grow on the basis of public trust, a message that now looms large over Korbit’s future as takeover talks continue.

This article has been refined and enhanced by ChatGPT.