The National Pension Service (NPS) has purchased a large stake in Coinbase, the largest U.S. cryptocurrency exchange, for the first time, paving the way for future direct investment in cryptocurrencies.According to a stock holdings report filed by the NPS to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commissi
MBK Partners Chairman Kim Byung-joo has overtaken Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong to become South Korea’s richest man.Forbes reported on April 17 (local time) that private equity asset manager Michael Kim (Korean name: Kim Byung-joo) earned the highest income this year with a net worth of
The author is an analyst of NH Investment & Securities. She can be reached at yd.yoon@nhqv.com. -- Ed. Partnering up with Dunamu and Lambda256, Hanwha I&S has been actively preparing to launch a blockchain business. By utilizing its extensive network, the firm is expected to work with blockchain sta
The author is an analyst of NH Investment & Securities. She can be reached at yd.yoon@nhqv.com. -- Ed. STO market to facilitate expansion of conventional financial marketOn Feb 5, financial authorities announced their STO guidelines, intending to complement the existing financial regulatory sandbox
The liquidity crisis of FTX is sending alarm signals to South Korean cryptocurrency exchanges. As of 13:30, Nov. 10, both BTC and ETH dropped more than 10 percent in 24 hours.South Korean cryptocurrency exchanges’ profits are likely to plunge under the circumstances. This is because their sales are
The author is an analyst of KB Securities. She can be reached at leesunhwa@kbfg.com. -- Ed. Maintain BUY but cut target price 20% (KRW350,000→KRW280,000) We maintain BUY on HYBE but cut our TP by 20% (KRW350,000→KRW280,000), as we lower 3y OP CAGR (24.4%→14.0%) given that OPM improvement should be l
The author is an analyst of KB Securities. She can be reached at leesunhwa@kbfg.com. -- Ed. Maintain BUY; cut target price 18.6% We maintain BUY on HYBE but cut our TP by 18.6% (KRW430,000→KRW350,000), as we lower 2022E/2023E OP by 14.4%/26.2% to reflect an expected hiatus for BTS. However, in terms
The author is an analyst of KB Securities. She can be reached at leesunhwa@kbfg.com. -- Ed. Maintain BUY, target price of KRW430,000 We maintain BUY and TP of KRW430,000 on HYBE. The stock is trading at 37.6x 12m fwd P/E (vs. 44.3x historical P/E average) on the pending issue of military service for
SK Group has surpassed Hyundai Motor Group to become the second-largest business conglomerate in Korea in terms of assets.The Fair Trade Commission announced on April 27 that it has designated 76 large business groups with assets exceeding 5 trillion won as corporate groups subject to public disclos
A total of 10 startups attracted an investment of at least 100 billion won each in the first quarter of this year. The annual investment is expected to reach a new high this year, given that the number was 19 in 2021.The total startup investment was 3.1424 trillion won in the first quarter of this y
Securities companies are increasing their investments in blockchain, virtual asset and metaverse startups.For instance, Mirae Asset Securities made a series B investment in bHaptics on Feb. 15. bHaptics connects the tactile sensation to content and sells related products such as vests and warmers.On
Credit card companies are expanding their business in the cryptoasset market to launch new services based on metaverse, blockchain, etc.For example, Dunamu and BC Card recently signed an MOU to launch Dunamu BC Cards. According to the MOU, a product is provided in an NFT form on Dunamu’s metaverse p
The author is an analyst of KB Securities. He can be reached at drlee@kbfg.com. -- Ed. Maintain BUY but cut target price to KRW130,000 We maintain BUY on Kakao but cut our TP to KRW130,000 (-18.8%). Derived using the DCF model, our TP represents 73.0x implied P/E. Despite our expectation that 2022 r
The author is an analyst of NH Investment & Securities. He can be reached at jaemin.ahn@nhqv.com. -- Ed. Kakao’s share price adjustment, which began last year in response to new regulations, has been prolonged. However, the firm’s EV should soon rise again on both the continuing growth of major busi
The Korean government has finally wrapped up the privatization of Woori Financial Group.The Public Fund Management Committee under the Financial Services Commission is to announce on Nov. 22 five or six companies that would take over a 10 percent stake in the financial group from Korea Deposit Insur
The author is an analyst of KB Securities. She can be reached at leesunhwa@kbfg.com. -- Ed. Maintain BUY and TP of KRW500,000; Top pick among Korea Entertainment for 2022 We maintain BUY on HYBE and our TP of KRW500,000. We also recommend the stock as our top pick for Korea Entertainment. Derived us
The author is an analyst of NH Investment & Securities. She can be reached at hzl.lee@nhqv.com. -- Ed. During its 2021 HYBE Corporate Briefing held on Nov 4, HYBE announced its: 1) entry into the NFT market; 2) consolidation of fan community platforms; 3) release of interactive games; and 4) expansi
The author is an analyst of KB Securities. She can be reached at leesunhwa@kbfg.com. -- Ed. Maintain BUY, raise target price 16.3% from KRW430,000 to KRW500,000 We maintain BUY and raise our TP by 16.3% from KRW430,000 to KRW500,000 on HYBE. OP reached a record high in 3Q21, as core businesses conti
The author is an analyst of KB Securities. He can be reached at drlee@kbfg.com. -- Ed. Maintain BUY, lift target price to KRW170,000 We maintain BUY on Kakao and lift our DCF-derived TP by 25.9% to KRW170,000 (74.0x implied P/E). We raise 2021E/2022E OP by 7.5%/7.2% to reflect rapid growth at core b
PICA Project filed a suit against Dunamu on June 21. Dunamu is currently running UPbit, the largest cryptocurrency exchange in South Korea. PICA Project is the developer of cryptocurrency PICA. The litigation is the first in South Korea between a cryptocurrency exchange and a cryptocurrency develope