Dunamu, the operator of South Korea’s largest cryptocurrency exchange Upbit, said on August 28 that it has formed a strategic partnership with payments giant Visa to explore stablecoin payments, cross-border remittances and AI-driven financial services, according to South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency. The agreement targets next-generation finance and payments built on stablecoins and artificial intelligence, though the two firms have not yet settled on a specific product structure.
Stablecoin Payments and Remittances
The tie-up pairs the operator of Korea’s dominant retail exchange with one of the world’s largest settlement networks. Upbit handles the bulk of South Korean crypto trading volume, which has surged in recent weeks as local investors returned to digital assets, and its parent has drawn traditional finance interest before: Hana Bank took a $670 million stake in Dunamu earlier this year in the country’s largest bank-crypto deal. The new collaboration focuses on dollar-pegged tokens moving money across borders faster and more cheaply than correspondent banking, an area Visa is already testing in the country — it is working with Shinhan Bank on stablecoin settlement, as BlockchainReporter reported.
An OUSD and AI-Focused Mandate
Beyond plain payments, the two companies are reviewing business models built on OUSD, a dollar-pegged stablecoin, and are seeking new services that combine AI with stablecoin-based payment and settlement infrastructure. The report names no other partners and gives no technical detail on how OUSD would be issued, custodied or redeemed, and it does not disclose timelines or which blockchain networks would carry the products, underscoring how early the arrangement remains.
An Exploratory Partnership
The deal is a strategic partnership rather than a finished product, and the report stresses that the specific service structure has not yet been determined. For Dunamu, the tie-up extends Upbit’s reach into regulated payments just as South Korean regulators tighten oversight of crypto transfers. For Visa, it deepens a stablecoin strategy that already spans settlement pilots with lenders such as Shinhan and Nium, betting that stablecoin rails rather than any single token become the next battleground for mainstream adoption.
