Feb 04, 2023
Binance Re-Enters South Korea with Acquisition of Gopax
Cryptocurrency exchange Binance has announced its return to South Korea with the acquisition of Gopax, a local crypto trading platform backed by the Digital Currency Group. The deal was funded by Binance’s Industry Recovery Initiative, to which the company pledged $1 billion.
The acquisition marks Binance’s re-entry into the South Korean market after exiting two years ago. Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao noted that the company is committed to protecting not only crypto users, but also the crypto industry. “We hope that taking this step with GOPAX will further rebuild the Korean crypto and blockchain industry,” he said.
Binance chief business officer Yibo Ling revealed that the company has taken a “meaningful” equity position in Gopax, without disclosing the terms of the deal. Previous reports suggested that Binance purchased a 41% stake from Gopax’s largest shareholder, Lee Jun-hang.
The acquisition comes a few months after Gopax halted withdrawals from certain products in November 2022 due to the collapse of the FTX exchange. Gopax suspended withdrawal of principal and interest payments in its decentralized finance (DeFi) service GoFi following issues experienced by now-bankrupt crypto lending firm Genesis Global Capital.
Binance plans to use the new capital to improve Gopax’s customer withdrawal system and to make interest payments for GoFi. The initiative also aims to promote crypto education and close collaboration with South Korean regulators and virtual asset stakeholders.
“The fundamental thrust of this deal was to support customers and make sure that any customers who want to withdraw their assets have the ability to do so,” Ling said.
The acquisition of Gopax is part of Binance’s larger plan to become a major player in the web3 space. The company has already launched several NFT-related initiatives, such as its Twitter NFT Marketing Agency and its NFT Promotion Platform. Binance is also offering a range of services to help users sell their NFTs, including its web3 agency and marketplace. With the acquisition of Gopax, Binance is well-positioned to become a major player in the NFT space.
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