Naver's Digital-Asset Ambitions Hit by American Legislative Setback

The United States Senate's rejection on September 15th of a cloture vote on the CLARITY Act — the centrepiece of American efforts to establish a clear regulatory framework for digital assets — has added near-term downward pressure on Naver's ambitions in the sector, according to analysts at Daeshin Securities.

Daeshin reiterated a buy rating on Naver (KOSPI: 035420) on September 17th, reaffirming a target price of 320,000 won. The stock closed at 201,500 won on September 16th, implying upside of roughly 59% to that target.

The Senate vote failed by a wide margin: 49 in favour against 50 opposed, well short of the 60 votes required to end debate and proceed. Notably, several Republican senators broke with their party leadership. The defeat makes passage of the CLARITY Act before November's mid-term elections virtually impossible. Should the bill also fail after the mid-terms, its sponsors would be forced to restart the legislative process from scratch in the next Congress.

The CLARITY Act had been seen as a global benchmark, as it sought to resolve the contested question of whether digital assets fall under securities or commodities regulation. The longer American legislation is delayed, the weaker its reference value becomes for other jurisdictions seeking to set international standards on matters such as issuer regulation and exchange ownership rules.

The domestic picture in South Korea is equally uninspiring. Momentum behind the country's second-phase Digital Asset Basic Act, which had been pushed earlier this year, has already faded. The American delay removes a further justification for Korean regulators to act quickly: the argument that prompt legislation is needed to prevent regulatory arbitrage now carries less force.

This regulatory vacuum threatens to disrupt directly the planned merger between Naver Financial and Dunamu, the operator of South Korea's largest cryptocurrency exchange, Upbit. The share-swap and transfer date for the two companies has already been pushed back once, from June 30th to December 31st 2026. Daeshin analysts say a further delay cannot be ruled out if the legislative impasse persists.

The crux of the matter is licensing. The merger requires approval from the Korea Fair Trade Commission as well as clearance from financial regulators concerning major-shareholder-related requirements. In a disclosure filed in July, Naver Financial explicitly stated that the progress of its share exchange with Dunamu could be affected by the passage of the Digital Asset Basic Act. Since that legislation would provide the legal basis and justification for regulatory sign-off, a prolonged legislative gap translates directly into administrative uncertainty.

The monetisation timeline for a planned Korean won-denominated stablecoin business may also slip. Even if the merger completes, the structure of a stablecoin issuance and payments business must be confirmed against a clear policy framework. Without one, the point at which the venture becomes profitable remains uncertain. Compounding this, if trading volumes in the broader digital-asset market remain subdued, Dunamu's market value at the time of any contractual appraisal could fall below levels assumed when the deal was struck.

Daeshin's analysts are nonetheless careful to distinguish between a delay and a reversal. The direction of travel towards institutionalising digital assets and stablecoins has not changed, they argue. The Senate vote signals a setback in timing, not an abandonment of regulation altogether. Major jurisdictions — the United States, the European Union, Japan — continue to advance their respective frameworks, and South Korea has given no indication of stepping back from the principle of regulation.

Worth noting, too, is that the current share price appears to incorporate little, if any, of the potential upside from the stablecoin business or from synergies with Dunamu. That is a double-edged observation: it explains why the stock has underperformed its target price, but it also means that positive catalysts, when they materialise, could move the needle considerably.

For investors, Daeshin suggests separating short-term risk from medium-term direction. If the merger delay causes the stock to fall disproportionately relative to Naver's core business value and existing assets, that could represent a buying opportunity. The maintained target price of 320,000 won — 59% above the current level — reflects the firm's view that a short-term delay does not impair the company's medium-term intrinsic value.

Naver's stock has persistently traded at a wide discount to analyst targets since a 280,000-won price objective was set in March 2025. Even around the 330,000-won target range introduced in July 2026, the average gap between target and actual price hovered around 31%. Beyond regulatory uncertainty in digital assets, the persistent discount reflects compounding concerns about slowing growth in Naver's core advertising and e-commerce businesses.