Coinone said it has brought in Korea Investment & Securities and OKX as new strategic investors and declared a leap beyond a digital asset exchange to a blockchain-based comprehensive financial platform. It aims to combine the trust of regulated finance, global trading infrastructure, and content and IT capabilities through a four-way alliance that includes existing major shareholder Com2uS Holdings.

Coinone CEO Cha Myung-hoon (차명훈) said at a joint press briefing on Wednesday at the company's headquarters in Yeouido, Seoul, that "Coinone is at a historic turning point that will change the landscape of South Korea's digital asset market." He said Coinone has brought in Korea Investment & Securities and OKX as new strategic investors.

Under the investment, Korea Investment & Securities and OKX will each secure a 20 percent stake in Coinone and participate as joint third-largest shareholders. Cha will retain a 30 percent stake to ensure continuity and stability in management. Com2uS Holdings, the existing second-largest shareholder, will also keep its status as a major shareholder.

Cha said the investment goes beyond a simple financial stake purchase. He said it has built a foundation for the digital asset industry to become an institutional industry trusted by the public and authorities.

Coinone said the shareholder restructuring clearly divides the roles of each shareholder. Korea Investment & Securities will provide compliance and risk management capabilities from traditional finance, and OKX will support global trading technology infrastructure and wallet technology. Com2uS Holdings plans to support the expansion of Coinone's services based on global content intellectual property and IT infrastructure.

Korea Investment & Securities stressed that the deal is not a financial investment aimed at gaining profits from stake valuation. Kim Sung-hwan (김성환), CEO of Korea Investment & Securities, said it is a strategic investment to serve as a hub connecting regulated finance and the digital asset market. He said traditional assets such as stocks, bonds and funds are also likely to be digitised into digital assets in the future.

Security and compliance were cited as reasons Korea Investment & Securities chose Coinone. Kim said it did not look only at market share or position in the market, and said it highly rated Coinone's security and compliance capabilities.

OKX said it aims to generate synergy with Coinone in technology, risk management and compliance through cooperation.

Star Xu (스타 쉬), CEO of OKX, said the goal is to provide better products and services and to protect customer assets more safely through cooperation with Coinone. He said compliance is not simply paperwork but an area of technology-based control.

OKX plans to apply its experience running a global exchange and its technology to Coinone. Xu cited OKX's 13 years of operating a global digital asset business and highlighted technological infrastructure strengths including trading engines, abnormal transaction detection, fraud prevention and wallet management.

Com2uS Holdings will maintain its existing cooperative relationship with Coinone while taking on the role of technology and content partner in the new shareholder alliance.

Com2uS Holdings CEO Jung Chul-ho (정철호) said Coinone now has four pillars: reliability, global connectivity, content and safe infrastructure. He said Com2uS Holdings will support Coinone's growth by using AI application technology, large-scale IT infrastructure and content IP assets.

Song Byung-joon (송병준), chairman of Com2uS Holdings, said Coinone and Com2uS Holdings made the decision to redesign the shareholder structure to respond to the rapidly changing global digital finance market and a new regulatory environment. He said it will support Coinone's future growth together with strategic partners Korea Investment & Securities and OKX.

Coinone said it plans in the short term to strengthen competitiveness in South Korea's digital asset market by combining capabilities of its new partners. In the medium term, it aims to introduce digital financial products such as tokenised securities (STO) and stablecoins within the legal framework, and in the long term it targets expansion into a global comprehensive financial platform.

Cha said the investment agreement is not a full stop that ties off Coinone's growth but a starting line that opens a new future for South Korea's digital finance. He said that since last year Coinone has been considering its next growth strategy and began planning to bring in traditional financial companies and a global top-tier exchange as strategic shareholders.

He added that after months of discussions, Korea Investment & Securities and OKX, which shared an understanding of Coinone's future value, have joined as new partners.