Samsung’s Cloud Giant Is Building Stablecoin Plumbing With Upbit’s Owner
Samsung SDS is teaming up with Dunamu, the firm behind Korea's biggest crypto exchange, to build stablecoin infrastructure — here's what it means.
One of South Korea’s biggest tech companies just signalled that stablecoins are about to become part of everyday corporate infrastructure, not just a crypto-trader’s tool. Samsung SDS, the IT services and cloud arm of the Samsung group, has confirmed it is teaming up with Dunamu — the company behind Upbit, South Korea’s largest crypto exchange — to build out stablecoin systems. For everyday holders, that’s a sign the ground under digital money is shifting from the exchanges toward the boardrooms of major conglomerates.
The news landed alongside Samsung SDS’s second-quarter earnings, and shares briefly popped before giving back most of the gain, closing up 0.71% at ₩198,700, according to Blockonomi. Investors clearly liked what they heard, even if the stock cooled off by the closing bell.
Why Samsung is getting closer to crypto
This isn’t Samsung’s first move toward Dunamu. Back in May, three Samsung group entities — Samsung SDS, Samsung Securities and Samsung Card — jointly bought a 4% stake in Dunamu for 612.8 billion won, picking up 1.39 million shares from sellers linked to Kakao. Samsung SDS itself holds 1% of that stake, with Samsung Securities at 2% and Samsung Card at 1%.
Samsung SDS is now describing that stake as a foothold in digital asset infrastructure, and it plans to turn it into real products: payment platforms, security tools and back-end systems for stablecoins and other digital currencies. In plain terms, the same company that already runs cloud and cybersecurity systems for banks and corporations wants to build the pipes that move stablecoins around — working directly with the operator of the exchange millions of Koreans already use to trade crypto.
The cloud numbers behind the crypto push
The stablecoin plans aren’t happening in isolation — they’re riding on a cloud business that’s genuinely growing. Samsung SDS posted second-quarter revenue of 3.7178 trillion won, up 5.9% year-over-year, with operating profit rising 0.7% to 231.8 billion won and net income climbing 4.6% to 184.1 billion won.
Cloud services were the standout, up 17% to 779.4 billion won. External cloud sales — business from customers outside the Samsung group, including government clients — jumped 75%, while revenue tied to the Samsung Cloud Platform and GPU services rose 24%. That infrastructure matters because it’s the same computing backbone the company says will eventually support its stablecoin and payment systems.
What the AI build-out tells us
Samsung SDS currently runs about 110 megawatts of AI and digital-finance computing capacity, with plans to more than double that to 230 megawatts by 2029 and push past 800 megawatts by 2031, once design and operational projects are counted. The company is also part of a government-backed programme for GPU procurement and data-centre construction, has rolled out a new AI chip offering built on FuriosaAI’s Renegade technology, and already has AI deals with Woori Bank and the Export-Import Bank of Korea, alongside technical ties to OpenAI, Anthropic and Google Cloud.
For readers holding crypto, the takeaway isn’t a price signal — it’s a trust signal. When a company the size of Samsung starts wiring its cloud and AI muscle into stablecoin infrastructure alongside a major exchange operator, it suggests stablecoins are being treated less like a niche crypto product and more like everyday financial plumbing. That kind of institutional buy-in tends to matter more for long-term adoption than any single day’s price move.
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