S Korea's Upbit, ICEx partner to boost Indonesia crypto sector

Upbit operator Dunamu, which runs South Korea’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, signed a technology partnership with Indonesia’s ICEx Group, which operates under a comprehensive license covering digital asset exchange, clearing, and custody functions, to support digital asset infrastructure in Indonesia.

The signing took place in Seoul during the Korea-Indonesia Business Forum, attended by Dunamu CEO Oh Kyoung-suk, ICEx CEO Pang Xue Kai, and Adi Budiarso, director of digital asset innovation and regulation at Indonesia’s Financial Services Authority.

Dunamu said it will share Upbit’s operational know-how with ICEx and discuss cooperation on digital financial infrastructure.

Dunamu said 11 local exchanges, including Upbit Indonesia, joined as founding shareholders, while major Indonesian conglomerates and global exchanges joined as strategic investors.

🔗 Source: The Korea Herald

🧠 Food for thought

Implications, context, and why it matters.

Indonesia’s new crypto framework pushes trading into regulated channels

Indonesia now requires every crypto trade to run through three licensed layers: a regulated exchange (Bursa), a central clearinghouse, and an independent custodian, using the same structure as stock and derivatives markets 1.
Indonesia’s Financial Services Authority (OJK) supervises the system 1.
The rules add oversight to a market with about 20.19 million registered crypto investors as of December 2025, slightly above the 20.13 million capital market investors with SID (Single Investor Identification numbers used in Indonesia’s capital markets) 1.
Eleven local exchanges, including Upbit Indonesia, jointly own ICEx Group. Its three units, International Crypto Exchange/ICEx, Crypto Asset Clearing International/CACI, and International Crypto Custody/ICC, each hold an OJK license for exchange, clearing, or custody services 1.

Upbit’s global expansion focuses on national market plumbing

The Indonesia deal fits Dunamu’s wider plan to become a core market-services partner across Southeast Asia.
In Vietnam, it signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the state-controlled Military Bank (MB Bank) to launch the country’s first domestic digital asset exchange 2.
Dunamu brings technology plus regulatory-response know-how from South Korea, aiming to support countries that are building formal digital-asset market infrastructure 3.
The approach casts Upbit as an operational and technology advisor, offering a repeatable model for entry into fast-growing emerging markets with tighter rules 3.