이 기사는 2022년 03월 29일 08시04분 thebell에 표출된 기사입니다

SK Square, SK Group’s intermediate holding company, may take up NXC Corp’s stake in Korbit to increase its shareholding in the South Korean crypto trading platform as it is seeking to ramp up its investment in the blockchain space, industry sources said.

SK Square is in talks to buy a stake in Korbit held by NXC, the parent company of the gaming firm Nexon, to become the largest shareholder of the crypto exchange, according to sources.

Korbit raised 90 billion won ($73.4 million) from SK Square in November last year, making the investment holding company its second largest shareholder with a 35% stake.

The investment was aimed at partnering with the crypto exchange to help SK’s technology affiliates find new business opportunities in the blockchain and digital assets space. In line with this move, Korbit is collaborating with SK Telecom, the nation’s biggest mobile carrier, on non-fungible token projects while signing a memorandum of understanding with SK planet to work together on blockchain-related initiatives.

SK Square also recently unveiled a plan to create its own digital currency later this year as part of a bigger goal at the group level to build a blockchain ecosystem that includes several SK’s affiliates in various sectors.

NXC is the largest shareholder of Korbit with a 64% stake, owning 48% directly and the remaining 16% through its subsidiary Simple Capital Futures.

NXC and SK Square have continued to explore future collaboration opportunities with Korbit in the past months when the potential sale of NXC’s stake in the exchange to SK Square was also discussed, sources said. Speculation about the sale gained traction after the unexpected death of Nexon founder Kim Jung-ju last month, who had ambitions to grow the gaming firm’s blockchain business.

“Only the key officials at the two firms were involved in the sale talks,” said an industry insider.

“We are exploring various collaboration opportunities with Korbit but nothing has been finalized regarding whether to increase our stake in Korbit,” an official at SK Square said.

NXC denied the possibility of selling its stake in Korbit, at least in the near future. “There must have been some misinformation,” an official at NXC said. “It’s true that (NXC and SK Square) are in partnership but we are not considering selling our Korbit stake at the moment.” (Reporting by Yun-ju Roh and Won-ji Hwang)