South Korea's Mirae Asset completes acquisition of Korbit crypto exchange

South Korean financial heavyweight Mirae Asset has completed its acquisition of local crypto exchange Korbit and is set to boost its stake from 92% to 97%.

According to a Thursday announcement from Korbit, Mirae Asset Consulting, an affiliate of Mirae Asset Financial Group, has become the exchange's largest shareholder after completing the required regulatory procedures to acquire a controlling stake.

Additionally, Mirae Asset filed a revised regulatory filing on Tuesday to purchase additional Korbit shares worth $5.32 million, which would increase its ownership from 92.06% to 97.15%, the Korea Herald reported. Yonhap News Agency reported that Mirae Asset plans to complete the additional deal on Friday.

Korbit said the exchange's operating entity, user deposits, and personal data handling will remain unchanged.

Earlier this month, the Fair Trade Commission, South Korea's antitrust watchdog, approved the deal, calling it the first case of a traditional financial group's affiliate acquiring a crypto exchange in the country, per the Korea Herald.

Mirae Asset Consulting has said that the purpose of the acquisition is to "secure future growth momentum based on digital assets."

According to CoinGecko data, Korbit ranks as South Korea's fourth-largest crypto exchange by trading volume, with roughly $4.3 million in the past 24 hours. Upbit, the dominant player in the local market, recorded about $224.2 million.