[BizHanKook] Digital X (formerly Korbit), a virtual asset exchange acquired by Mirae Asset Group, is showing signs of a change in its management structure. As CEO Oh Se-jin, who has led the company for about seven years, steps down before the end of his term, Mirae Asset has moved to reshape the management team by nominating an internal group executive as the new CEO. With Mirae Asset pushing for capital expansion and business growth with the goal of turning Digital X profitable by 2027, attention is focused on whether Digital X can lead the group’s digital asset strategy and generate synergy.
Digital X is set to appoint a new leader for the first time in about seven years. On the 5th, Mirae Asset Group announced through a group personnel reshuffle that Roh Yong-woo, Vice President of Mirae Asset Securities, has been nominated as the next CEO of Digital X. The nominee, Roh, previously served as the head of the management innovation division and group risk management division at Mirae Asset Securities, and joined the Innovation Promotion Group—an organization driving the group’s mid-to-long-term strategy—in November 2025.
The change in leadership at Digital X has caught the market's attention. This is because there were predictions that current CEO Oh Se-jin would remain in his position for the sake of management continuity after Mirae Asset acquired Digital X last July. The fact that CEO Oh still had over two years left in his term supported this. However, CEO Oh expressed his intention to resign in early November for personal reasons, and Mirae Asset nominated an internal group official as his successor. With three individuals, including Mirae Asset Consulting CEO Chae Chang-sun, already having joined as non-executive directors of Digital X, the management team will be fully reshaped with Mirae Asset alumni once the nominee, Roh, takes office.
CEO Oh Se-jin is the person who led Digital X for the longest period. He joined Korbit in 2019 as Chief Strategy Officer (CSO) and took office as CEO in January 2020. Although he successfully secured consecutive reappointments in 2022 and 2025, extending his term until the end of 2028, he is stepping down without completing his remaining term. Although CEO Oh has expressed his intent to resign, the official inauguration date for the nominee, Roh, has not yet been finalized, as procedures such as the Korea Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU)’s acceptance of the change in virtual asset business operator (VASP) registration and board approval remain.
As Mirae Asset initiates a reorganization of Digital X, interest is also shifting toward its future business direction. During CEO Oh’s tenure, Digital X attempted to diversify its business and discover new business models. In 2021, when non-fungible tokens (NFTs) were in the spotlight, it became the first Korean Won-based exchange to open an NFT marketplace, and it also established the industry's first virtual asset think tank (now the Digital X Research Center). In February 2022, it launched a recurring investment service that allows users to purchase virtual assets in regular intervals, aimed at acquiring new investors.
The problem is that despite these attempts, poor performance has persisted. Digital X has failed to turn a profit in operating income for the past six years. A low market share led to weak commission income, and the company also endured the virtual asset downturn (2022–2023). Digital X recorded operating losses of 8.6 billion KRW in 2020, 2.7 billion KRW in 2021, 35.8 billion KRW in 2022, 26.9 billion KRW in 2023, 16.8 billion KRW in 2024, and 15.4 billion KRW in 2025.
While revenue increased starting in 2024 as the virtual asset market recovered, operating losses continued. Although it posted a net profit twice—in 2020 (5.8 billion KRW) and 2024 (9.8 billion KRW)—due to the rising market value of the virtual assets it held, it returned to a net loss of 15.8 billion KRW in 2025.
For this reason, the market is watching whether Mirae Asset can turn Digital X profitable. Park Hyeon-joo, founder and Global Strategy Officer (GSO) of Mirae Asset Group, emphasized performance improvement while explaining the group's mid-to-long-term vision, 'Mirae Asset 3.0,' and goals for the digital asset sector during an event for Digital X employees held last August.
GSO Park stated, "We will make Digital X a core pillar of Mirae Asset 3.0, and our first goal is to achieve profitability by 2027, while growing the digital asset sector to a scale of 150 trillion KRW." Furthermore, under the 'Mirae Asset 3.0' vision, he announced plans to expand the digital asset business focusing on four pillars: virtual assets, stablecoins, real-world assets (RWA), and security token offerings (STO), as well as to pursue the digitalization of physical assets like gold and silver. He also revealed a plan to build a platform that integrates traditional assets and digital assets with Digital X at the center.
Indeed, Mirae Asset has already begun providing support to expand Digital X’s capital. On August 27, Mirae Asset Consulting participated in a third-party paid-in capital increase for Digital X, investing 50 billion KRW. The purpose of the investment is to improve the financial structure of the subsidiary and strengthen its business competitiveness. It is also notable that the nominee, Roh Yong-woo, has been in charge of risk management and management innovation at Mirae Asset Group. Given that profitability is the goal, he may attempt strong management efficiency and cost structure improvement measures after taking office.
Whether Mirae Asset can increase Digital X’s market share and change its market ranking is also a key issue. Since the acquisition, Digital X has been running an event that provides free commission on all virtual asset trades for one year, starting August 24, 2026. Boosted by the parent company’s support and the effectiveness of the promotion, Digital X’s market share, which was previously in the 0–1% range, is reported to have risen to the 4% range recently.
Whether Digital X can generate synergy with other affiliates and the group as a whole in the digital asset sector also remains to be seen. In the third quarter, Mirae Asset Securities turned to an operating loss of 502.3 billion KRW on 7.5005 trillion KRW in revenue (consolidated basis) due to investment losses in companies like SpaceX. Mirae Asset Securities is also actively pursuing the digital asset business as a new growth engine. Seol Yong-jin, an analyst at iM Securities, analyzed, "While the business direction regarding digital assets and overseas expansion is positive, the current contribution in terms of profit-generating capacity, which could consistently yield gains, remains limited."