OKX, Korea Investment & Securities in talks to buy Coinone

OKX and Korea Investment & Securities are negotiating to each acquire about 20% of South Korea’s Coinone by subscribing to newly issued shares, market reports said. The planned purchases would be new equity rather than transfers of existing stock and would inject capital while leaving daily management largely unchanged.

South Korean regulators fined Coinone about $3.5 million on April 13 and ordered a three-month partial suspension of operations for anti-money-laundering failures. Regulators cited inadequate customer verification and business with unregistered overseas exchanges.

Coinone is one of five main exchanges that trade the South Korean won, alongside Upbit, Bithumb, Korbit and Gopax. A reported OKX stake would give the global exchange a presence in the local won market.

Earlier this year, Coinbase explored an equity investment in Coinone while the exchange’s controlling shareholder considered a partial sale; no transaction materialized.

Domestic financial groups have also made large investments in Korean crypto platforms. In February, Mirae Asset Consulting agreed to buy a 92.06% stake in Korbit for 133.48 billion won (about $93 million). Hana Financial Group said it will invest roughly 1.003 trillion won (about $668 million) to acquire a 6.55% stake in Dunamu Inc., operator of Upbit, with the deal expected to close in mid-June.

Representatives for Korea Investment & Securities did not respond to requests for comment. OKX declined to comment on the reported talks.