Mirae Asset’s Digital X Waives All Trading Fees for a Year to Challenge Upbit

Mirae Asset Group is making an aggressive push into South Korea’s cryptocurrency market, offering customers a year of commission-free trading at Digital X, the exchange formerly known as Korbit, as the financial conglomerate seeks to challenge the dominance of market leaders Upbit and Bithumb, KED Global reported.

The fee waiver

Digital X will waive all trading fees for a year, a move aimed squarely at pulling retail volume away from Upbit and Bithumb, which together dominate the Korean market. Mirae Asset completed its acquisition of Korbit earlier this year after South Korea’s antitrust watchdog cleared the country’s first takeover of a crypto exchange by a financial conglomerate affiliate, rebranding the exchange as Digital X. Korbit was among the earliest crypto exchanges in South Korea, and backing from Mirae Asset gives it institutional credibility that smaller platforms lack.

A broader digital-finance push

Digital X is also preparing a fresh capital raise of $145 million to $217 million by the first quarter of next year to become a broader digital-finance platform, according to the report. Mirae Asset is one of South Korea’s largest financial groups, with operations spanning securities, asset management, investment banking and private equity, giving Digital X a balance-sheet advantage over smaller rivals.