Real Creative Commons photo of Seoul's Yeouido financial district for an OKX Ventures and Coinone investment story.

OKX Ventures and Korea Investment & Securities Take Matching Coinone Stakes

By Isaac • May 29, 2026 9:33 pm • Comments

OKX Ventures and Korea Investment & Securities are each investing 80 billion won, about $53 million, to take 19.6% stakes in South Korean crypto exchange Coinone.

The combined deal runs to 160 billion won and closes only after regulatory approval.

Both buyers would become joint third-largest shareholders in one of South Korea’s licensed virtual asset exchanges. That puts global exchange capital and major Korean brokerage capital inside the same regulated trading venue.

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CEO Cha Myung-hun keeps control as the largest shareholder at 27.8%. Com2uS Holdings and its affiliates sit at 25.0%.

The structure mixes secondary purchases from existing holders with newly issued shares, so management control does not change.

The two investors bring different things to the table.

Korea Investment & Securities, one of South Korea’s largest brokerages, wants to build security token and stablecoin businesses with Coinone. It is leaning into South Korea’s shifting digital asset legislation.

OKX Ventures, the investment arm of OKX, brings the operational side. Coinone expects to draw on OKX’s global playbook on user protection, security, and risk management.

Metaverse Post, citing Coinone’s announcement, described the ownership structure and partnership plan this way:

Coinone, a major virtual asset exchange in South Korea, announced that it has entered into strategic equity investment agreements with Com2uS Holdings, Korea Investment & Securities (KIS), and OKX Ventures, the venture arm of global fintech and crypto company OKX. The deal represents a coordinated investment aimed at strengthening Coinone’s institutional positioning and expanding collaboration between regulated finance and digital asset infrastructure.

Under the agreement, KIS and OKX Ventures are each set to invest KRW 80 billion (approximately USD 53 million), with both entities expected to acquire a 19.6% stake in Coinone once the transactions are completed. The investments remain subject to regulatory approval.

Following completion, they are expected to become joint third-largest shareholders, behind Coinone CEO Myung-Hun Cha, who holds 27.8%, and Com2uS Holdings along with its affiliated entity, which holds 25.0%.

KIS is expected to explore new business opportunities with Coinone in areas such as Security Token Offerings (STO) and stablecoins, aligning with ongoing regulatory developments in South Korea. The collaboration is positioned as an effort to develop a hybrid financial model that integrates traditional regulated finance with virtual asset markets.

Through its collaboration with OKX Ventures, Coinone is expected to gain access to global market insights, international operational experience, and established best practices across digital asset ecosystems. The two companies also plan to exchange knowledge in areas such as user protection, operational resilience, cybersecurity, and risk management, as Coinone continues preparing for a more institutionalized market environment.

The two firms also plan to collaborate on compliance infrastructure, including AML and suspicious transaction detection, and on products aimed at institutional and derivatives markets.

OKX confirmed the $53 million investment, and a joint press conference is planned for June.

The deal also lands in a broader Korean exchange-investment wave.

South Korea is one of the most active retail crypto markets in the world, and it is now weighing stablecoins, security tokens, and fresh digital-asset rules.

This deal lands right in that opening. A global exchange operator with a 120 million user footprint and a major Korean brokerage are putting real money inside a regulated local venue at the exact moment the rulebook is being written.

The stake still needs sign-off from regulators before it closes. But the direction is clear enough.

Global exchange capital and Korean traditional finance are meeting in the same licensed crypto venue, and that is where the next phase of South Korea’s market gets built.

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