What Upbit does

Upbit, operated by privately-held Dunamu Inc. (founded 2017, headquartered in Seoul, ~659 employees as of August 2025), is South Korea's largest cryptocurrency exchange, commanding approximately 80% of domestic trading volume and processing roughly $30 billion in trailing 30-day volume. The exchange supports spot trading across KRW, BTC, and USDT markets for over 200 listed assets and operates an extended product suite including Upbit Staking (ETH, ATOM, ADA, SOL, POL, CRO), Upbit Lending (collateralized borrowing up to ₩1B), Upbit Recurring Buy (auto DCA, ₩8,143B cumulative through July 2026), Upbit NFT, Upbit Custody (cold-wallet), Upbit DataLab (market indices), Upbit Biz (corporate accounts since June 2025 regulatory approval), and an Open API with an npm-distributed Upbit Skills integration that lets AI agents execute trades via natural language commands. Revenue is generated primarily through maker/taker transaction fees (KRW markets: 0.05% maker / 0.139% taker including VAT; BTC and USDT markets: 0.25%/0.25%), supplemented by deposit/withdrawal fees, lending fees (0.05% daily), staking yield share, and white-label platform technology (e.g., Indonesia's ICEx MOU). Upbit holds VASP Registration No. 2021-01, ISO/IEC 27001/27017/27018/27701 and ISO 22301 certifications (valid 2024.09–2027.08), and exclusive fiat on-ramp partnership with KBank. In November 2025, Dunamu merged with Naver Financial in a ~₩20T (~$14B) stock-swap transaction, and Hana Financial Group, Samsung Securities, and Hanwha Group acquired strategic stakes, while a ~₩44.5B ($36M) Solana hot-wallet hack, an FIU ₩35.2B fine for KYC failures, and proposed Digital Asset Basic Act ownership caps (20% individual / 34% corporate) frame the current regulatory and operational risk profile.

Name

Upbit

Legal name

Dunamu Inc.

Website

https://upbit.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2017

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Upbit, operated by Dunamu Inc., is South Korea's largest cryptocurrency exchange, commanding roughly 80% domestic market share and serving retail traders, corporate clients, and licensed regional operations across Indonesia, Singapore, and Thailand.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Cryptocurrency Exchange

NAICS

Securities and Commodity Exchanges (5232)

SIC

Security & Commodity Brokers, Dealers, Exchanges & Services (6200)

akta.pro primary industry

Crypto Custody & Exchange Wallet Services (Integrated) (FSADAAAG)

akta.pro secondary industries

On/Off-Ramp Providers (Fiat↔Crypto) & Cash-In/Cash-Out Networks (FSADAIAE), Crypto-Backed Consumer Loans (Secured) (FSADAFAG)

Keywords

• Cryptocurrency exchange
• Digital asset trading
• Spot trading platform
• Crypto staking services
• Digital asset custody

Headquarters

HQ city

Seoul

HQ country

South Korea

HQ region

Asia

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Trading Commission Fees: Upbit charges maker and taker fees on digital asset trades across KRW, BTC, and USDT markets. KRW market: Maker 0.05%, Taker 0.139%. BTC and USDT markets: Maker 0.25%, Taker 0.25%. VAT included. Fees vary by order type and market.
2. Deposit/Withdrawal Fees: Fees for digital asset and KRW deposits and withdrawals, with tiered limits based on account verification level and 2-channel authentication status.
3. Staking Services: Upbit Staking allows users to delegate digital assets for blockchain validation and earn rewards, with the exchange likely taking a share of staking yields.
4. Recurring Buy (Coin Averaging): Automated recurring purchase service allowing users to buy crypto on a schedule; exchange earns standard trading commissions on each execution.
5. Coin Lending: Upbit's Coin Lending (Coin 빌리기) service allows users to borrow digital assets using their holdings as collateral, with a daily fee of 0.05% of borrowed quantity and 1% forced-liquidation fee.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Upbit, operated by Dunamu Inc., is South Korea's largest cryptocurrency exchange, offering spot trading of digital assets against KRW, BTC, and USDT markets. The platform provides a comprehensive suite of digital asset financial services including staking, collateralized lending, dollar-cost averaging (Recurring Buy), NFT marketplace, cold wallet custody for institutions, market analytics (DataLab), and an Open API for programmatic trading, with regulatory compliance under South Korea's Virtual Asset User Protection Act.

Product overview

Upbit is a comprehensive digital asset financial platform operated by Dunamu Inc., South Korea's largest cryptocurrency exchange commanding approximately 80% market share. The platform offers a unified core exchange infrastructure supporting KRW, BTC, and USDT trading markets for over 200 digital assets, augmented by a modular ecosystem of financial services. Key products include: the core Upbit Exchange (spot trading), UPbit Custody (cold wallet storage), Upbit Staking (validation rewards), Upbit Lending (collateralized borrowing), Upbit Recurring Buy (automated dollar-cost averaging), Upbit DataLab (market analytics), Upbit NFT (digital collectibles marketplace), Upbit Skills (AI agent integration), Upbit Biz (corporate services), and the Upbit Open API (developer tools). The platform is accessible via web, mobile app, and programmatic interfaces.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Upbit Custody: Digital asset custody service for secure storage of digital assets
• Upbit Staking
• Upbit DataLab
• Upbit Biz
• Upbit NFT
• Coin Recurring Buy (코인모으기)
• Coin Lending (코인빌리기)

Products and services

• Upbit Exchange South Korea's largest digital asset exchange operated by Dunamu Inc., offering cryptocurrency spot trading against KRW, BTC, and USDT with real-time market data, advanced charting, and secure wallet infrastructure for individual and institutional investors.
• Upbit Custody Enterprise-grade cold wallet custody service for secure digital asset storage, integrated with staking for asset management and operational expertise. Targeted at corporate and institutional clients holding significant digital asset balances.
• Upbit Staking Staking service allowing users to delegate digital assets for blockchain validation and earn rewards over time. Supports ETH, ATOM, ADA, SOL, POL, and CRO assets for retail and corporate users seeking yield on holdings.
• Upbit Recurring Buy (코인모으기) Automated dollar-cost averaging service enabling users to set recurring purchases on a daily, weekly, or monthly schedule with automatic KRW top-up functionality. Helps retail investors lower their average cost basis through periodic buying.
• Upbit Lending (코인빌리기) Collateralized lending service allowing users to borrow assets using KRW, BTC, ETH, or USDT as collateral with up to 85% collateral ratio and leverage up to 1 billion KRW. Charges a daily 0.05% borrowing fee and 1% forced liquidation fee.
• Upbit DataLab Market analytics platform providing indices, sector analysis, blockchain data, and market insights including the Upbit Composite Index, Altcoin Index, and sector-specific indexes for traders researching digital asset markets.
• Upbit NFT NFT marketplace integrated into the Upbit platform for trading digital collectibles, with Drops, Marketplace, and Trends features and a calendar of upcoming NFT drops with benefits.
• Upbit Skills AI agent integration tool enabling natural language-based trading operations through Claude Code, Cursor, Codex, and custom SDK agents. Allows developers and AI agent users to execute price checks and trading orders using natural language commands via the Upbit Open API.
• Upbit Biz (법인) Corporate account service providing institutional clients with cold wallet custody, staking integration, and dedicated business customer support. Authorized Korean corporations use Upbit Biz for digital asset trading with cold wallet custody, full market access, and dedicated corporate customer support.
• Upbit Open API Developer API enabling programmatic access to market data, trading operations (order placement and retrieval), and deposit/withdrawal operations. Supports algorithmic trading, trading bots, and third-party application development with IP-based access controls.

Quantifiable outcome

• Upbit commands approximately 80% of South Korea's crypto exchange trading volume and processes ~$30 billion in trading volume over 30 days.
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration3 records

AI capability3 records

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• Singapore Police Force (with Other Exchanges)minorOthers · 23 April 2026Upbit collaborated with Singapore Police Force in a coordinated enforcement action against scam-linked cryptocurrency accounts, working alongside exchanges Coinbase, Coinhako, Gemini, Independent Reserve, and StraitsX, supported by Chainalysis and TRM Labs. The operation prevented over $2.86 million in losses to ~90 Singapore-based scam victims during a one-month period.
• CirclecoreTechnology or Integration · 14 April 2026Circle (USDC issuer) signed agreements with Upbit and Bithumb in preparation for the commercial launch of Arc, Circle's blockchain-based financial settlement rail. Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire visited Korea to expand partnerships and held discussions with KB, Shinhan, and Hana banks. Circle clarified it will not issue a Korean won-backed stablecoin but expressed support for won-pegged stablecoins.
• Indonesia Crypto Exchange (ICEx)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 April 2026Upbit signed an MOU with Indonesia Crypto Exchange (ICEx) to provide core platform technology, operational expertise, and exchange infrastructure including matching, risk management, and market operations to build a compliant digital asset trading venue in Indonesia. Upbit Indonesia serves as a founding shareholder of ICEx. The MOU was formalized at the Korea–Indonesia Business Partnership for Resilient Growth Forum.
• Naver Financial (Dunamu Merger)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 26 November 2025Naver Financial and Dunamu announced a merger (November 2025) through a comprehensive stock swap valuing the combined entity at approximately 20 trillion won (~$14 billion). The merger aims to create a digital asset super platform integrating Naver's portal traffic, AI technology, and payment infrastructure with Upbit's exchange and blockchain capabilities, targeting tokenized asset markets, payments, and stablecoins.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights7 records

Direct peers

• Gopax: Gopax is a Korean VASP-registered exchange offering spot and OTC trading to retail and institutional clients, recently acquired by Binance. Direct peer in domestic Korean market with regulatory and product overlap with Upbit.
• Korbit: Korbit is one of the 'Big 4' Korean cryptocurrency exchanges regulated by the same FIU framework as Upbit, operating KRW trading, custody, and token listings for retail and institutional Korean clients. Direct competitor in the same domestic market with similar product breadth.
• Coinone: Coinone is a major Korean cryptocurrency exchange offering KRW spot trading, staking, and corporate services under VASP registration. Direct competitor serving the same retail and corporate segments in Korea.
• Bithumb: Bithumb is South Korea's second-largest cryptocurrency exchange and direct domestic competitor to Upbit, operating KRW trading pairs, custody, and staking with overlapping retail and institutional customers. Most direct comparable given identical Korean VASP regulatory framework and KRW banking rails.

Broad incumbents

• Coinbase: Coinbase is a US-listed, regulated cryptocurrency exchange and custodian offering spot, staking, custody, and institutional prime brokerage. Comparable as a Tier-1 regulated CEX serving retail and institutions with similar security and certification posture (ISO 27001, SOC).
• Binance: Binance is the world's largest centralized cryptocurrency exchange by volume, offering spot, derivatives, custody, staking, and lending globally. Broad incumbent with overlapping product capabilities, though non-Korean residents cannot access Upbit so the overlap is largely indirect via Korean users' offshore activity.
• OKX: OKX is a global Top-5 cryptocurrency exchange offering spot, derivatives, wallet, and OKX Wallet services worldwide. Comparable as a Tier-1 CEX with similar product breadth around trading, custody, and onchain integrations.
• Kraken: Kraken is a US-based, regulated cryptocurrency exchange offering spot, staking, and institutional services globally. Comparable as a long-standing regulated CEX emphasizing security certifications and institutional infrastructure.

Regional players

• HashKey Exchange: HashKey is a Hong Kong-licensed, bank-backed cryptocurrency exchange serving institutional and retail clients across Greater China. Regional peer reflecting a regulated, fiat-gated CEX with strong institutional sponsorship, closely comparable to Upbit's regulatory profile in Asia.
• Bitkub: Bitkub is the largest Thai cryptocurrency exchange operating under SEC Thailand oversight, offering KRW-equivalent fiat trading and token listings across Southeast Asia. Regional peer reflecting similar fiat-gateway exchange model in an adjacent Southeast Asian market where Upbit Thailand also operates.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• GitHubgithub.com/upbit-official
• Xx.com/Official_Upbit
• Facebookfacebook.com/upbit.exchange

Compliance5 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Subsidiaries4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Upbit