Hana Bank, Upbit Global to develop Travel Rule infrastructure for crypto transfers. By anonymous - September 22, 2026 Hana Bank has signed an agreement with Upbit Global to develop Travel Rule infrastructure for digital asset transfers, extending its work with South Korea's crypto sector into transaction compliance and transfer technology. DigitalToday reported on Sept. 22 that the two companies signed a memorandum of understanding at Hana Bank's headquarters in Euljiro, Seoul, covering technical cooperation on digital asset transfers and systems designed to meet regulatory requirements. The agreement will focus on technology needed to verify information about people sending and receiving digital assets, securely transmit the required data between service providers and connect financial institutions with virtual asset businesses in South Korea and overseas. Upbit Global already operates Travel Rule technology through its subsidiary VerifyVASP. The system verifies sender and recipient information during virtual asset transfers while transmitting data required for compliance and protecting personal information. Hana Bank and Upbit Global will test Travel Rule technology. Travel Rule requirements require virtual asset service providers to obtain and retain information about senders and recipients when processing covered transfers. Relevant information must then be securely passed to the service provider on the other side of a transaction. Hana Bank and Upbit Global plan to jointly review how those requirements can be applied when digital assets move between different types of financial service providers. Technical work will cover sender and recipient verification as well as secure information transmission. The companies intend to research and test infrastructure that could support transfers involving banks and domestic or overseas virtual asset service providers. Regulatory information sharing forms another part of the agreement. Hana Bank and Upbit Global plan to respond jointly to changes in digital asset laws, regulations and institutional requirements while exchanging information related to compliance. Travel Rule controls are already embedded in South Korea's crypto transfer infrastructure. Upbit applies restrictions to deposits from exchanges that do not meet its Travel Rule requirements, while transfers involving personal wallets can require ownership verification. The exchange has continued to apply those controls as it expands the assets available on its platform. In August, for example, its rules for incoming token transfers allowed the exchange to request evidence on the source of large deposits, while transfers from noncompliant exchanges could remain uncredited until additional checks were completed. Hana Bank has expanded its digital asset business. The latest agreement adds another technical project to Hana Bank's growing digital asset operations. Hana Bank plans to use its experience in foreign exchange, payments and settlement to identify financial services that could be built around digital assets, according to DigitalToday. The bank already has direct financial exposure to the company behind Upbit. In May, Hana agreed to acquire a 6.55% stake in Dunamu, Upbit's operator, from Kakao Investments for roughly 1.003 trillion won, equivalent to around $670 million at the time. Crypto.news previously reported that the Dunamu stake purchase drew scrutiny from South Korea's Financial Services Commission over rules separating banking and commercial businesses. The planned transaction would make Hana Bank Dunamu's fourth largest shareholder. Hana Financial Group had separately reached a strategic agreement with Dunamu to develop a financial model connecting traditional banking and digital assets. Hana Financial TI had completed a proof of concept for a Korean won backed stablecoin using the XRP Ledger as part of the group's blockchain work. Digital asset custody is another area where the group has built infrastructure. Hana began working with BitGo on custody services in 2023 and later became a shareholder in BitGo Korea alongside SK Telecom. BitGo Korea secured registration as a virtual asset service provider in August 2026. Hana holds a 25% stake in the business, with its role built around contributing financial sector experience to the custody venture. The registered custody business offers another connection between Hana's banking operations and regulated digital asset infrastructure. Korean banks are building stablecoin and settlement systems. Hana's work with Upbit Global comes as South Korean financial institutions test several models for using blockchain in payments, settlement and regulated financial products. In March, Hana Financial Group signed a memorandum of understanding with Standard Chartered Group covering digital asset initiatives. Their cooperation included potential work on stablecoins, tokenized deposits, custody and payment infrastructure, drawing on the two groups' financial networks and technology capabilities. Hana has separately worked with KB Financial Group and Shinhan Financial Group on infrastructure that could support Korean won pegged stablecoins and related digital payment systems. The Standard Chartered partnership expanded that work into cooperation with an international banking group. Other South Korean financial companies are testing how blockchain assets could fit into existing settlement systems. Eugene Investment & Securities signed an agreement with blockchain company BEATOZ on Sept. 21 to test stablecoins for tokenized securities subscriptions. The planned proof of concept will examine whether subscription, payment and settlement can be handled within one blockchain based process. Eugene built a tokenized securities platform in 2024 and is participating in Hana Financial Group's consortium working on a won denominated stablecoin. South Korea is preparing to bring tokenized securities into its regulated capital markets framework from February 2027. The first phase is expected to cover selected privately pooled money market funds, institutional bonds, certain unlisted shares and publicly offered fractional investment securities. The stablecoin settlement trial will use Eugene's existing tokenized securities issuance infrastructure to examine how stablecoins could be incorporated into that process. South Korean authorities are still working through rules for other parts of the digital asset market. The Bank of Korea has supported a bank led structure for won denominated stablecoin issuance, while lawmakers and regulators have continued discussions over issuer requirements, reserves and supervisory responsibilities. Hana Bank said its agreement with Upbit Global creates a cooperation model between a traditional financial institution and the virtual asset industry built around regulatory standards including anti money laundering requirements.

Upbit parent company Dunamu joins Visa in agentic commerce, remittance tie-up. * Dunamu, the parent of South Korea's largest crypto exchange Upbit, has partnered with Visa to develop stablecoin payments, cross-border remittances, AI-driven finance and agentic commerce. * OUSD is among the stablecoins under review by both companies. * The product's launch depends on Korea's still-unpassed stablecoin legislation. Upbit's operator, Dunamu, has entered into a strategic partnership with Visa. The two companies will build stablecoin-based payments, cross-border remittances and AI-driven financial services. What is Dunamu planning with Visa deal? A partnership between Dunamu and Visa was unveiled at Visa's Global Market Support Center in San Francisco. The plan pairs Dunamu's digital asset technology, including custody, transfers and anti-money-laundering tools built up through Upbit, with Visa's payments network. Specifically, the deal will explore international payments, remittances and settlement services running on stablecoins, as well as AI-powered finance. The company will also explore agentic commerce, where an AI agent hunts for a product or service and completes the purchase and payment on the user's behalf. Both firms have said they will examine business models built on OUSD, which is the dollar-backed stablecoin from the Open Standard consortium that includes Visa, Mastercard, BlackRock, Circle and more than 140 other institutions. However, it has not launched yet. OUSD differs from Tether's USDT and Circle's USDC, which are run by single companies, while it is designed as shared infrastructure managed through independent governance. Most of OUSD's reserve income is passed back to the banks, card firms and exchanges that distribute it, and it has no issuance or redemption fees. A spokesperson of Dunamu reportedly stated that the OUSD is one of several stablecoins under review by the company and that it is "not prioritizing nor excluding specific stablecoins." Notably, Dunamu, along with several other Korean firms, was once listed as a consortium partners. However, Dunamu later said there was no formal agreement to join. Why Visa is expanding into South Korea's stablecoin market. Cryptopolitan reported that Shinhan Financial Group signed its own strategic agreement with Visa on August 24 to test stablecoin issuance, remittance and redemption. The agreement is Shinhan's second stablecoin partnership in four months. Visa also joined BLOOM, a Monetary Authority of Singapore initiative that links traditional payment systems to regulated stablecoin rails. J.P. Morgan, DBS and Circle were among the participants. Visa, which has an annualized settlement volume of $7 billion as of April, already runs stablecoin pilots across nine blockchains and more than 130 stablecoin-linked card programs in about 40 countries. The launch of either of these products depends on South Korea passing legislation that governs digital assets. Cryptopolitan has reported that the Digital Asset Basic Act is still being reviewed by the National Assembly. The law may allow only groups where commercial banks own at least 51% to issue won-backed stablecoins, following warnings from the Bank of Korea about letting non-bank companies issue stablecoins. Prior to the Visa deal, Hana Financial Group took a 6.55% stake in May to jointly build a won-stablecoin ecosystem. Samsung affiliates bought a combined 4% stake in the company before its July talks on stablecoin and AI payments. Dunamu also runs its own public blockchain, Giwa. Target countries for the financial service being built, as well as service formats and a launch schedule, have not been set. FAQs. Who is partnering with Visa, and who leads Dunamu? Dunamu, the operator of South Korea's largest crypto exchange Upbit, is the partner, and its chief executive is Oh Kyung-seok, who unveiled the roadmap in San Francisco alongside Visa global president Oliver Jenkyn. What is agentic commerce in this partnership? Is Dunamu committing to the OUSD stablecoin? Disclaimer. The information provided is not trading advice. Cryptopolitan.com holds no liability for any investments made based on the information provided on this page. Cryptopolitan strongly recommend independent research and/or consultation with a qualified professional before making any investment decisions. Hannah is a writer and editor with nearly a decade of blog writing and event reporting experience in the crypto space. At Cryptopolitan, Hannah contributes to the news page, reporting and analyzing the latest developments in DeFi, RWA, crypto regulation, AI and frontier tech industries. She graduated from Arcadia university with a degree in Business Administration. TABLE OF CONTENT