Dunamu-related shares jump despite Upbit outages

With the largest U.S. cryptocurrency exchange going public Wednesday, shares of companies related to Korea’s largest trader of crypto jumped on hopes that it too will become a listed company.

Coinbase is set to start trading on Nasdaq with what could be a $100 billion valuation.

The next on the list for possible listing includes San Francisco’s Kraken and Israel's eToro.

Korea's Dunamu, operator of Upbit, is also mentioned as a possible candidate. According to local media reports, the company is in discussions with Goldman Sachs about a New York Stock Exchange or a Nasdaq listing.

A spokesperson for Dunamu declined to clarify, and Upbit has been suspending service in recent weeks for short periods of time due to server overloads related to high volume.

Hanwha Investment & Securities preferred shares rose by the daily limit of 30 percent on Wednesday to close at 33,800 won ($30.40). The brokerage's common stock closed at 5,830 won per share, up 6.58 percent from the previous trading day.

The brokerage holds 6.15 percent shares in Dunamu.

The stock price of Woori Technology Investment, which holds 8 percent of Dunamu based on the company's corporate filing in April last year, jumped by 7.79 percent Wednesday to close at 12,450 won.

Shares of Kakao, a major shareholder of Dunamu that is estimated to control some 21.3 percent shares in the crypto exchange operator, remained flat.

Bitcoin prices soared as well prior to the listing of Coinbase, rising above $63,000 on Tuesday according to CoinMarketCap. On Upbit, bitcoin traded at over 81 million won as of 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, renewing its record.

Dunamu has been growing at a rapid pace recently as hot money has flowed into cryptocurrencies. Unlike the short-lived boom in 2017, crypto is gaining legitimacy as large investors, such as BlackRock, Tesla and PayPal, jump into bitcoin.

Dunamu reported 176.7 billion won in revenue and 46.4 billion won in net profit last year, and analysts project 460 billion won in revenue and 121 billion won in net profit in the first quarter of 2021.

Kraken is likely to aim for listing on Nasdaq by 2022 based on a recent interview with CEO Jesse Powell on CNBC. Israel's eToro is preparing to go public on Nasdaq via merger with a special purpose acquisition company.

Nasdaq said Tuesday that Coinbase's reference price for its direct listing has been set at $250 a share. Coinbase is Nasdaq’s first significant direct listing, which is when a company's shares begin trading without it issuing new shares to raise capital.

BY KIM JEE-HEE [kim.jeehee@joongang.co.kr]