Dunamu boasts accumulated Q3 net profit of $1.7 bn, vows to go global

Dunamu Inc., the operator of Korea’s largest cryptocurrency exchange Upbit, has announced that its accumulated third-quarter net profit came in at 1.99 trillion won ($1.68 billion.) 

Armed with the ample cash flow, the company’s CEO Lee Sirgoo has vowed to build an overseas NFT platform within the exchange.

To put the earnings into perspective, Korea’s biggest brokerage Mirae Asset Securities Co. recorded net income of 339.8 billion won in the same period.

Dunamu’s accumulated sales reached 2.82 trillion won with operating profit at 2.59 trillion won, meaning the operating profit-to-sales percentage stands at a whopping 92%. 

Lee announced these results and plans in a press conference Tuesday, held on its recently launched metaverse platform 2ndblock.

The company’s CEO expects to pay around 1 trillion won in taxes this year. As of late last month, the number of registered users on Upbit exceeded 8.9 million.      Together, they deposited 6.4 trillion won worth of cash and cryptocurrency valued at 46.7 trillion won.

GLOBAL EXPANSION PLANS

During the press conference, the Dunamu chief expressed a strong commitment to expanding the business to overseas markets by building an NFT division.

Last month, the company agreed to swap shares with HYBE, the company behind boyband BTS, and form a joint venture. Dunamu and HYBE will develop and issue NFTs based on HYBE-managed artists, for example, NFTs of rare footage or photos of BTS members.

When it comes to listing on the Nasdaq, Lee said there are no concrete plans, although he has looked into it with investment banks and accounting firms. 

Dunamu also plans to energize its metaverse platform 2ndblock’s user base by creating different communities for people who are interested in similar content; the same way on and offline communities serve their memberships. One possible scenario is linking these communities with Upbit’s NFT division to showcase the digital assets on 2ndblock. 

MORAL HAZARD WITH SOME CRYPTO DEVELOPERS

Lee countered criticism that Upbit has an 85% market share in Korea by saying that more than double the trade volume on its platform is being traded abroad with Korean investment.

Regarding possible scam coins being in its mix of offerings, the company said it would be difficult to forcibly stop the trade of controversial coins. A senior official with Upbit acknowledged, however, that some cryptocurrency developers present moral hazard issues. 

Write to Jin-woo Park at jwp@hankyung.com
Jee Abbey Lee edited this article.