Nvidia to acquire $1B in new shares of South Korea’s Naver, boosting AI and crypto ambitions

Nvidia is putting $1 billion into Naver Corp, South Korea’s internet giant, in a deal that connects two of the hottest themes in global markets right now: AI infrastructure buildout and crypto exchange consolidation.

The investment, announced on July 24, is designed to supercharge AI data center capabilities at GAK Sejong’s hyperscale facility. But the real story for crypto watchers is what Naver plans to do with all this firepower, and who it’s buying next.

The deal and what’s behind it

Nvidia’s $1 billion buys newly issued Naver shares, making this a direct capital injection rather than a secondary market purchase. The money is earmarked to help triple Naver’s AI data center capacity from 55 MW to 200 MW by 2028.

The investment is part of a much larger financing package targeting roughly $10 billion in total. Brookfield has signed a non-binding term sheet for up to $9 billion of that, contingent on Naver locking down additional financing. Nvidia’s billion essentially helps Naver check that box.

The deal also aligns with the launch of Nvidia’s DSX platform, which the company has branded as its “AI factory.” Naver and Nvidia had already struck a partnership in June 2026 focused on building sovereign AI infrastructure in South Korea. This investment deepens that relationship considerably.

Naver generated revenue of roughly KRW 12.04 trillion (approximately $8.18 billion) in 2025.

The crypto connection: Dunamu and Upbit

Naver is in the process of acquiring Dunamu, the operator of Upbit, South Korea’s dominant cryptocurrency exchange, for $10.3 billion. That deal would create one of the most unusual corporate combinations in tech: a search and e-commerce giant fused with a top-tier crypto trading platform, all running on Nvidia-powered AI infrastructure.

Nvidia’s Asian expansion playbook

For Nvidia, the Naver investment fits into a broader pattern of strategic capital deployment across Asia. The company has also established a commercial collaboration with South Korea’s SK Group, focused on next-generation memory chips, at a scale reportedly exceeding $500 billion.

By investing directly in Naver, Nvidia ensures a massive, long-term customer for its hardware and platform services. The DSX “AI factory” deployment at GAK Sejong becomes a showcase for what Nvidia’s technology can do at hyperscale in a market where both government and private sector capital are flowing into AI.

What this means for investors

If Naver successfully closes both the Nvidia investment and the Dunamu acquisition, it would control a technology stack spanning search, e-commerce, AI compute, and crypto trading.

The risk, of course, is execution. A $10 billion financing package with a non-binding Brookfield commitment means this isn’t a done deal. Naver needs to secure the remaining capital, close the Dunamu acquisition at a $10.3 billion valuation, and actually build out the data center capacity on schedule.

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