Samsung SDS has set out detailed plans to build stablecoin infrastructure in partnership with Dunamu, signalling a broader group-wide move into digital assets that spans both consumer payments and financial technology back-end systems.
The South Korean IT services arm of Samsung confirmed during its second-quarter earnings conference call that stablecoin infrastructure will be the first major area of collaboration following its recent investment in Dunamu, the operator of the country’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, Upbit.
Samsung SDS President Lee Joon-hee said the stake in Dunamu was taken with the specific aim of entering the digital asset infrastructure business, stressing it was not a purely financial investment. He explained that Samsung SDS intends to combine Dunamu’s blockchain operating expertise with its own strengths in IT services, artificial intelligence, cloud computing and cybersecurity to reinforce next-generation digital financial infrastructure.
Lee added that the two companies are actively exploring commercial opportunities across three main tracks: stablecoin infrastructure, AI-powered payment systems and system integration services built around virtual assets. Samsung SDS said discussions are ongoing as both sides work to turn those ideas into concrete business models.
These comments are the clearest indication so far of how Samsung SDS plans to use its link-up with Dunamu, following the group’s investment earlier this year.
Strategic stake in Dunamu
In May, Samsung Securities, Samsung SDS and Samsung Card agreed to acquire a combined 4% holding in Dunamu for 612.8 billion won (approximately $408m). The deal involved buying 1.39 million shares from entities connected to Kakao. Under the agreement, Samsung SDS secured a 1% stake, Samsung Securities bought 2% and Samsung Card acquired the remaining 1%.
At the time of the transaction, Samsung SDS said it aimed to marry its AI, cloud, security and data management capabilities with Dunamu’s blockchain know-how. Dunamu, for its part, highlighted expectations for collaboration on blockchain-based investment products, payment infrastructure and AI-related blockchain applications.
Samsung Wallet moves into stablecoins
The latest remarks from Samsung SDS come less than a week after Samsung Electronics outlined plans to support stablecoins within Samsung Wallet, underlining how the group’s consumer-facing products and infrastructure ambitions are beginning to align.
During the Galaxy Unpacked event on 24 July, Samsung Electronics announced that Samsung Wallet will add support for stablecoins alongside existing services for payments, rewards and digital assets. The company did not provide a timetable for launch, nor did it specify which tokens, blockchain networks or regions would be supported initially.
Product manager Lee Dinham told the event that Samsung Wallet will evolve beyond traditional payment functions to incorporate stablecoins, enabling users to transfer digital value directly from compatible Galaxy devices.
Taken together, the Samsung Wallet announcement and Samsung SDS’s infrastructure focus indicate that Samsung’s digital asset plans now stretch from everyday consumer payment tools through to the underlying systems supporting blockchain-based financial services.
Contrasting stance on proposed OUSD consortium
The group’s current direction contrasts with its response to Open Standard’s proposed OUSD stablecoin consortium earlier this month. According to South Korean newspaper Chosun, Samsung said it had not held formal consultations with Open Standard and was unaware of the role it was expected to play after being named as a founding consortium member.
Dunamu, Shinhan Bank and K-Bank also told the newspaper they were still examining the proposal and had not agreed to participate, underlining that no decision had been taken on joining the OUSD initiative.
Cloud and AI growth underpins blockchain plans
Alongside its blockchain and digital asset strategy, Samsung SDS reported steady financial growth in the second quarter and highlighted rapid expansion in its cloud and AI businesses, which it plans to align with Dunamu’s blockchain platform.
Second-quarter revenue rose 5.9% year-on-year to 3.7178 trillion won, with operating profit up 0.7% to 231.8 billion won. Net profit increased 4.6% to 184.1 billion won. Revenue from IT services reached 1.7625 trillion won, a 5% rise from a year earlier.
Cloud operations remained the standout growth driver. Cloud business revenue climbed 17% to 779.4 billion won, while revenue from external cloud business surged 75% year-on-year. Samsung SDS said cloud service provider revenue grew 24%, helped by higher demand for Samsung Cloud Platform and wider deployment of GPU-as-a-Service across public-sector and enterprise clients. Cloud management services revenue increased 17%, supported by AI transformation projects in the financial sector and enterprise resource planning roll-outs in South Korea’s shipbuilding industry.
Expanding AI infrastructure
The company also detailed its efforts to build out AI infrastructure and corporate AI offerings alongside its blockchain initiatives. Samsung SDS said it was recently selected as a core operator in South Korea’s government-backed GPU infrastructure programme and has launched an NPU-as-a-Service product based on FuriosaAI’s Renegade neural processing chip.
It has secured AI-related projects with Woori Bank and the Export-Import Bank of Korea, while maintaining partnerships with OpenAI, Anthropic and Google Cloud to provide generative AI services.
Samsung SDS currently operates around 110 megawatts of AI infrastructure and plans to increase that to 230 megawatts by 2029. Including projects in design, construction and operation, the company expects total AI infrastructure capacity to exceed 800 megawatts by 2031.
This large-scale build-out, Samsung SDS said, is intended to support its strategy of combining its cloud and AI capabilities with Dunamu’s blockchain platform, as the two companies continue to shape joint plans around stablecoin infrastructure, digital asset payment systems and virtual asset-focused financial technology services.
