Dunamu, which operates digital asset exchange Upbit, has joined President Lee Jae-myung’s economic delegation on his trip to Vietnam. Some observers say it shows the digital asset industry’s status is changing.

On April 23, the digital asset industry said Dunamu Vice Chairman Kim Hyung-nyeon (김형년) was included in the economic delegation accompanying Lee on his state visit to India and Vietnam and will take part in events there. Dunamu is the only digital asset company among participating firms.

Some call it unusual that Dunamu is included in an itinerary that includes top business leaders such as Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong (이재용), Hyundai Motor Group Chairman Chung Eui-sun (정의선) and LG Group Chairman Koo Kwang-mo (구광모).

Former Dunamu CEO Lee Seok-woo (이석우) accompanied then President Moon Jae-in on a trip to three Nordic countries in 2019, but the economic delegation at the time was made up of smaller startups as well as venture capital and accelerator firms.

Kim is set to attend a Korea-Vietnam business forum being held on the day and then meet with Vietnam’s Military Commercial Joint Stock Bank, also known as MB Bank, to discuss cooperation on building a digital asset exchange.

The industry views it as an “exchange infrastructure export” model that goes beyond simple talks on cooperation, with a package of exchange systems and operational know-how. Under the structure, a local financial institution would operate the exchange, while Dunamu would provide trading systems, security and operational expertise.

Kim visited Vietnam in July last year and met Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh to discuss cooperation on the digital asset market. In August of the same year, Dunamu signed a memorandum of understanding on a technical partnership with MB Bank to help develop Vietnam’s digital asset market.

Accompanying the trip also carries industrial significance. Digital assets have so far been closer to a regulatory target, but inclusion in a presidential economic delegation could be interpreted as a sign the government is beginning to view it as a new industry.

That also aligns with Vietnam being at an early stage of institutionalising digital assets. Vietnam is known as a country that ranks near the top in global digital asset adoption, with an investor population of about 20,000,000 and annual trading volumes said to be in the hundreds of billions of dollars.

The market has grown rapidly, but institutions remain insufficient, and some analysts say South Korean exchanges’ operational experience and technology could be widely used in the early market-building process.

Some global exchanges already support Vietnamese-language services and are competing to secure local users.

An industry official said, "We are paying attention to the point that the role of the digital asset industry could change, with this trip as a turning point."