Naver Financial has delayed its share swap with Dunamu to September, with a shareholder vote set for August 18 and completion expected on September 30. The move comes amid regulatory reviews and weaker operating results clouding one of Korea’s biggest crypto-finance deals. The delay reflects a regulatory overhang as South Korea’s second-phase crypto rulebook threatens to reshape the deal’s operating environment. Naver said the proposed Digital Asset Basic Act could affect the transaction’s timing or outcome once enacted.
That legislation is expected in the first half of 2026 and is designed to go beyond the current user-protection framework to establish a broader rulebook for digital assets. In other words, the companies are not just waiting for approvals. They are waiting inside a legal environment that could alter assumptions.
Dunamu enters this delayed phase with weaker numbers, which changes the tone around the transaction. In its 2025 annual report, the company posted revenue of about 1.56 trillion won, down 10% year over year. Operating profit fell 26.7% to 869.3 billion won, while net profit dropped 27.9% to 708.9 billion won, attributed to lower trading volumes during a broader market slowdown. The merger may still happen, but it no longer looks like a straightforward expansion and now faces a harsher climate for crypto dealmaking, with the roughly $10.3 billion all-stock deal still requiring regulatory approvals and potentially influenced by the Digital Asset Basic Act.
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