Why Did Dunamu’s Revenue Decline in 2025?
Dunamu, the operator of South Korea’s largest cryptocurrency exchange Upbit, reported a 10.04% decline in operating revenue for 2025 as trading activity slowed following a stronger 2024. The company posted consolidated operating revenue of 1.56 trillion won ($1.03 billion), down from 1.73 trillion won ($1.1 billion) a year earlier.
Profitability weakened alongside revenue. Operating profit fell 26.7% to 869.3 billion won ($573 million), while net profit declined 27.9% to 708.9 billion won ($468 million), according to the company’s financial report.
Dunamu attributed the drop primarily to lower cryptocurrency trading volumes on Upbit, reinforcing the direct link between exchange activity and earnings performance. The slowdown follows a period of elevated market participation in 2024, suggesting a normalization in trading demand rather than a structural decline.
How Dependent Is Dunamu on Trading Activity?
The company remains heavily reliant on trading-related revenue. Commission income from its trading platform accounted for 1.53 trillion won ($1.01 billion), or 98.3% of total revenue, down from 1.71 trillion won ($1.13 billion) in the previous year.
Other business lines contributed marginally. Revenue from services such as its securities app and blockchain infrastructure offerings totaled 27.1 billion won ($17.9 million), representing just 1.7% of overall revenue.
This concentration highlights a key structural feature of crypto exchanges: earnings remain closely tied to market cycles. When trading volumes decline, revenue and profitability tend to contract in parallel, regardless of broader ecosystem development.
Investor Takeaway
What Do Balance Sheet Changes Reveal?
Dunamu’s total assets stood at 13.17 trillion won ($8.7 billion) at the end of 2025, down by 2.15 trillion won ($1.4 billion) from the previous year. The decline was largely driven by a reduction in current assets, which fell by 2.18 trillion won ($1.4 billion).
The company said the drop was primarily due to lower customer deposits, reflecting reduced trading activity on Upbit. This suggests that capital inflows into the platform have slowed, consistent with the broader decline in trading volumes.
The balance sheet movement provides additional confirmation that the slowdown is not limited to revenue metrics but extends to user activity and liquidity levels within the platform.
What Are the Strategic Developments Ahead?
Dunamu continues to expand beyond its core exchange business. The company operates additional services including Upbit NFT, staking, and lending products, alongside blockchain platforms such as Luniverse and Nodit. Outside crypto, it runs Securities Plus, an investment information platform integrated with domestic brokerage services.
In November 2025, Naver Financial confirmed a share-swap merger with Dunamu that would make the exchange operator a wholly owned subsidiary. The transaction has since been delayed by around three months due to changes in licensing approvals and the regulatory framework.
Dunamu is also pursuing a Nasdaq initial public offering, according to local reports, while plans are in place for a 10 trillion won ($6.8 billion) investment in financial infrastructure built on artificial intelligence and blockchain.
