Mirae Asset Eyes $100M Korbit Acquisition as Cardano Proposes Bitcoin and XRP Integration

Mirae Asset Pursues Korean Crypto Exchange Acquisition

Mirae Asset is in talks to acquire Korean cryptocurrency exchange Korbit in a deal valued at $100 million, according to recent reports ^[1]. The potential acquisition comes as South Korea's crypto market continues to see consolidation among traditional financial institutions and digital asset platforms.

Korbit's market position remains relatively modest compared to its domestic competitors. According to CoinGecko data, Korbit accounted for just $5.75 million in 24-hour trading volume, representing well under 1% of total activity across six Korea-based exchanges ^[1]. The total 24-hour trading volume across these exchanges stood at roughly $1.21 billion ^[1].

Upbit dominated the South Korean market with more than $768 million in daily volume, followed by Bithumb at nearly $298 million and Coinone at about $135 million ^[1]. The competitive landscape is further evolving as Naver Financial plans to acquire Dunamu, the operator of Upbit, through a stock-swap transaction valued at approximately 15.1 trillion won ($10.3 billion) ^[1]. Under that deal, Naver Financial will issue 87.56 million new shares to Dunamu shareholders, making Dunamu a wholly owned subsidiary ^[1].

Cardano Founder Proposes Cross-Chain Integration

In a separate development, Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson has proposed integrating the Midnight protocol with both Bitcoin and the XRP Ledger ^[2]. Hoskinson said that integrating the Midnight protocol with the XRP Ledger would give the network the computational capabilities needed to challenge legacy banks by enabling private, compliant decentralized finance (DeFi) ^[2].

He added that Midnight could also help make Satoshi Nakamoto's decentralization vision for Bitcoin possible ^[2]. The proposal represents a significant cross-chain collaboration effort aimed at enhancing privacy and functionality across multiple blockchain networks.

Criticism of Legacy Finance Blockchain Solutions

While championing Midnight, Hoskinson has also taken aim at legacy financial institutions who are pursuing the $10 trillion real-world asset (RWA) market by partnering with the Canton Network, which is a permissioned blockchain ^[2]. He argued that the Canton blockchain and other partial solutions fall short of what institutional adoption requires ^[2].

Midnight Protocol Development and Token Performance

Cardano started rolling out the Midnight Protocol on December 8, with the blockchain expected to reach full decentralization through a four-phase roadmap that will conclude in Q3 2026 ^[2]. The privacy platform's token, NIGHT, launched on the Cardano network on December 4 ^[2].

Interest around the token has soared, which saw the altcoin overtake crypto market leaders Bitcoin and Ethereum on CoinGecko's trending list on December 26 ^[2]. The strong performance highlights growing market interest in privacy-focused blockchain solutions and cross-chain integration capabilities.

These developments reflect broader trends in the cryptocurrency industry, with traditional financial institutions increasingly entering the digital asset space through acquisitions while blockchain networks explore enhanced interoperability and privacy features.