Dunamu, the operator of South Korean cryptocurrency exchange Upbit, announced on August 28 that it had formed a strategic partnership with Visa to explore stablecoin payments, international remittances and AI-driven financial services. According to reports from crypto.news, Visa's Asia-Pacific entity, Visa Worldwide Pte. Limited, signed the agreement before both companies presented their roadmap in San Francisco on August 26. The partnership was confirmed by Dunamu CEO Oh Kyung-seok and Visa Global President Oliver Jenkyn at the Visa Global Market Support Center in San Francisco. As reported by BigGo Finance, the collaboration represents a significant expansion for Dunamu, one of Asia's largest cryptocurrency companies, signaling its intent to move beyond exchange operations into payment infrastructure development.
The companies intend to combine Dunamu's digital-asset infrastructure with Visa's global payment network for research in stablecoin payments, global transfers, merchant settlement and new user experiences. According to BigGo Finance, the collaboration will explore stablecoin and digital asset-linked payment services in major global markets, examining ways to expand usage into global remittances, payments, and settlement. The partnership will jointly explore various business models that leverage the recently unveiled open-standard OUSD to broaden stablecoin utility, with the vision to connect stablecoins to existing global financial and payment infrastructure. Dunamu and Visa will evaluate business models involving Open USD (OUSD), a dollar-backed stablecoin developed through the Open Standard initiative, which has named Visa, Mastercard, Coinbase, BlackRock and more than 140 other organizations as supporters. The companies will explore real-world payment applications for stablecoins as a core area of cooperation, with the goal of connecting stablecoins with existing global finance and payments infrastructure.
The partnership covers payment infrastructure for agentic commerce, where an AI system searches for products, selects services and executes payments on a user's behalf. As reported by crypto.news, Dunamu and Visa said they would examine technology supporting authorization, payments and settlement for these transactions. According to BigGo Finance, the collaboration will jointly develop new services and business models that combine AI with stablecoin-based payment and settlement infrastructure. The companies will broadly examine "Agentic Commerce" where AI explores products or services and completes purchases and payments on behalf of users, as well as the technology, infrastructure, and ecosystem-building approaches needed for AI payments. Visa has been developing tools for verifying AI agents and giving merchants more control over automated transactions, though no technical integration has been announced. As noted by Bloomingbit, the spread of AI, stablecoins and tokenization is a key trend that will change how finance and commerce operate, with the partnership aiming to connect digital assets with traditional finance and create a new global financial experience.
On August 28, Upbit officially announced the listing of new trading pairs including EURC/KRW, BTC, and USDT. According to official announcements reported by TechFlow, this development comes as part of the broader strategic initiatives under the Dunamu-Visa partnership. The launch of these trading pairs represents Upbit's expansion into new digital asset markets and aligns with the company's focus on stablecoin-based payment infrastructure. The timing of the trading pair announcement coincides with the Dunamu-Visa partnership announcement, suggesting coordinated efforts to advance stablecoin adoption and AI-driven financial services across the platform.
