April 25, 2024

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[THE INVESTOR] Korean game maker Nexon on Sept. 27 denied it is jumping into the red-hot cryptocurrency market any time soon despite its recent purchase of Korbit, the nation’s No. 2 digital currency exchange operator.

NXC Corp., Nexon’s holding company, said on Sept. 26 it has acquired a 65.19 percent stake in Korbit for 91.3 billion won (US$80.10 million). Based on the buying price, Korbit is valued at about 140 billion won. 

“The purchase is part of our business diversification. That doesn’t mean Nexon is jumping into the cryptocurrency market immediately,” a company official told The Investor on condition of anonymity. “We believe blockchain and cryptocurrency technologies will be the next big things.”

Korbit, the nation’s first bitcoin exchange, was established in 2013 by Tony Lyu, 34, who studied at Cooper Union in New York and University of London. In June, Korbit with more than 30,000 users saw its transactions exceed 4 trillion won.

By Park Ga-young (gypark@heraldcorp.com)