Kakao Group announces MoU with Fireblocks to explore digital asset opportunities in Korea. Sep 21, 2026, 20:00 ET * Kakao Pay and Kakao Bank sign an MoU with global infrastructure leader Fireblocks to lay the groundwork for a digital asset ecosystem in Korea * The companies will jointly explore Korean market opportunities in digital assets, including stablecoins * The initiative aims to assess solutions suited to local regulatory, security, and service requirements SEOUL, South Korea, Sept. 21, 2026 /PRNewswire/ - Kakao Pay and Kakao Bank have signed a memorandum of understanding with Fireblocks to explore secure digital asset infrastructure in Korea. The agreement is intended to help establish secure onchain infrastructure for Korea's emerging digital asset market and strengthen its early ecosystem. This initiative leverages Kakao's nationwide reach, expertise across fintech and banking, and core blockchain technology. The companies expect their collaboration with Fireblocks - which has deployed digital asset infrastructure for over 2,500 global institutions including more than 100 banks - to accelerate that effort. Under the agreement, the three companies will jointly explore business opportunities based on Korea's market conditions and infrastructure demand. With a focus on stablecoins, they will explore digital asset distribution frameworks suited to Korea's regulatory, security, and service requirements. They also plan to conduct proof-of-concept (PoC) tests to assess the applicability of these frameworks, as part of a shared effort to build the digital asset ecosystem. "For banks and payment platforms in Korea, leveraging reliable digital asset infrastructure that is engineered to meet institutional requirements from day one is critically important," said Michael Shaulov, CEO and Co-Founder of Fireblocks. "This is the prerequisite for widespread adoption, and Kakao Pay and Kakao Bank are setting the groundwork now." "We are pleased to collaborate with Fireblocks, the global leader in digital asset infrastructure," said Yun Ho-young, CEO of Kakao Bank and Co-Head of Kakao Group's Stablecoin Task Force. "By combining our technology and expertise, we will develop secure and accessible digital asset services that expand our customers' financial opportunities." "The success of Korea's emerging digital asset market depends on the reliable flow of digital asset distribution," said Shin Won-keun, CEO of Kakao Pay and Co-Head of Kakao Group's Stablecoin Task Force. "Our strategic alliance with Fireblocks, a leading global infrastructure provider, lays an important foundation for that." About Fireblocks Fireblocks is the world's most trusted digital asset infrastructure company, empowering global institutions to build, manage and grow their business on the blockchain. With the industry's most scalable and secure platform, we streamline stablecoin payments, settlement, custody, tokenization, trading, accounting operations, and compliance reporting - enabling everything from institutional finance to consumer-facing digital experiences across the largest ecosystem of banks, payment providers, stablecoin issuers, exchanges and custodians. Thousands of organizations - including Worldpay, BNY, Galaxy, and Revolut - trust Fireblocks to secure $16 trillion in digital asset transactions across 200+ blockchains. Learn more at fireblocks.com SOURCE Fireblocks

Can Kakao Mobility stay ahead as Waymo and Baidu target Korea's robotaxi market? Korea's leading taxi-hailing platform is falling behind local and foreign rivals in autonomous driving as robotaxi competition accelerates. Published September 16, 2026 - 3:34 p.m. Kakao Mobility, Korea's largest taxi-hailing platform by market share, is facing questions over whether it can maintain its dominance in the self-driving era as U.S. and Chinese robotaxi giants accelerate their push into Korea and local rivals pull ahead in autonomous driving technology. Hyundai Motor and autonomous driving startups Autonomous A2Z and RideFlux will participate in an autonomous driving demonstration city project set to begin next month in Gwangju and South Jeolla, according to IT industry sources Tuesday. Kakao Mobility also applied but was not selected. The three participating companies have already completed development of their autonomous driving solutions and are undergoing compatibility testing. Once testing is completed, 200 autonomous vehicles will operate in Gwangju and South Jeolla, by the end of this year. The project aims to collect driving data needed to introduce Level 4 autonomous driving technology, which allows vehicles to operate without a driver on board. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport intends to expand the project next year to as many as 3,000 vehicles across five cities nationwide. It remains unclear whether Kakao Mobility will be selected to participate. "Since Kakao Mobility was not selected for the Gwangju and South Jeolla demonstration project, it will be difficult for the company to demonstrate technology that is more competitive than that of the three companies that have already secured driving data in the region," a senior autonomous driving industry source said. Kakao Mobility has also yet to receive a temporary permit for driverless autonomous vehicle operation, the Korean authorization that allows vehicles to operate without anyone in the driver's seat, as robotaxi services do in the United States and China. Kakao Mobility announced on Sept. 9 that it had accumulated 13,000 kilometers (8,078 miles) of driving data after operating six autonomous vehicles for six months in southern Seoul's Gangnam District, each carrying a safety operator in the driver's seat. That falls short of the 15,000 kilometers required by the Transport Ministry for a temporary driverless autonomous vehicle permit. RideFlux is the only company in Korea to have received the permit. Kakao Mobility also holds 26 related patents, fewer than RideFlux's 73 and Autonomous A2Z's 48. "Kakao Mobility still uses map- and rule-based autonomous driving, which is outdated technology," an executive at a Korean autonomous driving company said. Adding to the pressure, major U.S. and Chinese autonomous driving companies are accelerating their expansion into Korea. Google's Waymo established Waymo Korea in July and is testing driverless autonomous driving technology using Hyundai Ioniq 5 vehicles. Baidu established Baidu Apollo Go Korea in April and has since been seeking local partners. Some in the industry are concerned that Kakao Mobility could follow a path similar to Uber's. Uber began developing autonomous driving technology in 2015 but sold the division in 2020 amid pressure over its financial performance. It later partnered with Waymo, but found itself under pressure after Waymo opted to pursue its own platform rather than renew the partnership. Kakao Mobility also moved early to set up an autonomous driving task force in 2018 to develop the technology in-house. But legal risks, including allegations that it favored certain taxis in allocating ride requests, prevented the company from sustaining investment in autonomous driving. Its position as Korea's largest taxi-hailing platform also became a constraint. The company found it difficult to invest aggressively because of concerns over opposition from the taxi industry. Kakao Mobility dominated the era of human-driven taxis, but it is unclear whether its platform can maintain its current position once robotaxis enter the market. The company is also losing funding and talent. Private equity firm TPG, which has served as a financial partner since 2017, is focusing on exiting its investment by listing its stake in the United States in the form of American Depositary Receipts, or ADRs. Kakao Mobility's former Chief Technology Officer You Seung-il, who previously worked at Google, left the company in 2024. Its Senior Vice President Chang Sung-wook, who led autonomous driving development, moved to Naver in September last year, while Director Park Il-suk, who was responsible for mapping technology, joined Naver in January. Although Kakao Mobility may be late to the race, industry experts say it still has a chance to catch up. Its expertise in fleet control and management, built through a platform used by 13 million people each month, could help compensate for shortcomings in its autonomous driving technology. Such capabilities would be difficult for competitors, including overseas companies, to replicate. Industry attention is also turning to the 6.4 trillion won ($4.7 billion) in investment resources held by Kakao X, an investment company which is set to be spun off from Kakao. "Kakao Mobility became a latecomer in autonomous driving because it neglected investment despite having the advantage of being the No. 1 taxi-hailing platform," a former Kakao Mobility employee said. "The key will be where Kakao X chooses to invest its money." BY OH HYEON-WOO [[email protected]]

Kakao sets 6 trillion won revenue target for KakaoAI by 2030. By anonymous - September 16, 2026 Kakao has set a 2030 revenue target of more than 6 trillion won ($4.3 billion) for its planned KakaoAI business as it prepares to bring AI agents directly into KakaoTalk and separate its investment operations into KakaoX. Yonhap reported on Sept. 16 that Kakao Group Investment Strategy Office head Kim Do-young disclosed the target during an online meeting with minority shareholders, putting KakaoAI's planned revenue above the 2.7 trillion won recorded by the relevant businesses in 2025. Revenue generated specifically from AI services is expected to reach roughly 1 trillion won by 2030. Kakao plans to build the business around its KakaoTalk messaging platform, connecting AI with advertising, commerce, maps and other existing services. The company has set a target of more than 20 million daily active users for its AI services while seeking to increase the time users spend on KakaoTalk by 50%. Kakao expects to show some of those services as early as October, when it plans to demonstrate several KakaoTalk-based AI agents at its developer conference. KakaoAI plans to turn KakaoTalk into an AI agent platform. Kakao's planned AI system is designed to understand a user's intent from conversations and usage context, then connect that request with services capable of carrying out the required task. Jeon Hyun-soo, Kakao's business leader, said several agents would be demonstrated at the October developer conference. The company wants users to be able to execute and complete different services from inside KakaoTalk without moving to separate applications. The plan builds on Kakao's previously disclosed strategy for turning KakaoTalk into an agentic AI interface. The messenger has roughly 50 million users, giving KakaoAI an existing distribution channel for services covering search, recommendations, purchases and payments. Kakao expects to combine its own large language models with outside specialist agents as it expands the system. Some AI functions will be processed on-device where possible, keeping the processing on a user's smartphone as the company seeks to address privacy concerns. The company has previously identified agent-based advertising, commerce and subscriptions among the revenue sources planned for the AI business. Its 2030 targets include more than 6 trillion won in total KakaoAI revenue and over 1 trillion won from AI services. Kakao's restructuring plan, approved by its board in August, separates the company into KakaoAI and KakaoX. The split is scheduled for Jan. 1, 2027, with KakaoAI expected to relist on the Korea Exchange on Jan. 27. KakaoAI will hold the KakaoTalk platform and businesses covering AI, advertising and commerce, while KakaoX will retain the group's investment functions and major interests in fintech, content and mobility. Existing shareholders are set to receive shares in both businesses based on the planned split ratio, with 36% allocated to KakaoAI and 64% to KakaoX. Kakao is preparing an integrated membership service. Kakao is separately developing a group-wide membership program built around KakaoTalk that would connect services spanning mobility, content and commerce. Jeon said the company wants users to accumulate benefits while using different Kakao services and then access those benefits from one place. "The goal is to allow users to use benefits accumulated across multiple services in one place," he said, adding that Kakao is designing and testing the business model before a formal launch. Details covering the benefits offered through the program and its launch schedule have not been finalized. Kakao said it would disclose them once decisions have been made. The company presented the membership plan as one way cooperation between its businesses could continue after the split through commercial services and contracts, despite KakaoAI and KakaoX becoming separate companies. Such cooperation could extend across businesses that will sit on different sides of the new structure. KakaoX is expected to retain the group's fintech operations, including KakaoBank and Kakao Pay, along with its content and mobility businesses. Kakao's fintech operations have already been exploring digital asset services. Crypto.news previously reported in July that Kakao partnered with Circle to study stablecoin payments, blockchain settlement and digital asset infrastructure in South Korea. Kakao Group, Kakao Pay and KakaoBank agreed to examine areas including Korean won-based digital assets, cross-border payments, merchant settlement and tokenized financial services under that agreement. Kakao said at the time that its KakaoTalk-centered ecosystem could be combined with Kakao Pay's payments business, KakaoBank's banking operations and Circle's blockchain infrastructure. KakaoX targets 10 trillion won in 2030 revenue. KakaoX has set a separate target of 10 trillion won in revenue by 2030, with its existing businesses grouped around fintech, content and mobility. The company identified virtual assets, live entertainment, global fandom platforms, robotaxis, robot trucks and physical AI among the areas where it plans to pursue new business and investment opportunities. Its digital asset exposure already extends beyond payments. KakaoBank has been examining stablecoin issuance and custody services as part of a group-level digital asset strategy. The bank reviewed stablecoin entry plans in 2025 while working with a Kakao Group stablecoin task force that included Kakao Pay. KakaoBank later moved into won-pegged stablecoin development, including hiring blockchain specialists with smart contract experience. The bank has previously participated in the Bank of Korea's central bank digital currency experiments, covering wallet creation, asset exchange and remittance trials. The group's investment portfolio has undergone changes this year as well. In May, Hana Bank agreed to buy a Dunamu stake from Kakao Investments for roughly 1.003 trillion won, or about $670 million at the time. The transaction involved 2.28 million shares in the parent company of South Korean crypto exchange Upbit, giving Hana a 6.55% holding. Kakao Investments was set to retain about 1.4 million Dunamu shares, representing a 4.03% stake, following the transaction. Under the planned corporate structure, KakaoX will manage its investment operations while developing its techfin, content and mobility businesses toward the 10 trillion won revenue target. Kakao said the two companies will operate independently after the split, while service and contractual relationships can continue between group businesses.