Just-In: Binance Officially Re-Enters South Korea Market with Gopax Acquisition

The world’s largest crypto exchange Binance completed the acquisition of Gopax to officially re-enter the South Korean market on Thursday. The plan was to announce the acquisition in 2013, but delayed due to final discussions and regulatory constraints. Gopax is among the top five crypto exchanges in South Korea.

Binance Officially Acquires Gopax for South Korea’s Market Entry

Binance has officially entered South Korea with the acquisition of Gopax, according to a local media report on October 16. The exchange earlier completed due diligence on the acquisition of Gopax and acquired a majority stake of 67%.

Earlier this week, the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) resumed its review of Gopax’s formal report on changes to its key executives. South Korean financial authorities have strict requirements for foreign virtual asset operators for reasons such as anti-money laundering and investor protection.

With the US SEC v. Binance dropped by the Trump administration and the U.S. DOJ agreed to settle with Binance and founder Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, the review was resumed once again and approved today.

Upbit dominates South Korea’s crypto market with over 72% market share. However, Binance’s entry into the market could shift the market share towards Gopax.

CZ’s Interest in Southeast Asia

Binance founder Changpeng “CZ” Zhao was actively seeking to re-enter South Korea after exiting in January 2021. South Korea has one of the world’s largest crypto economies, an excellent talent pool, and a startup community, becoming an attractive market for Binance.

The South Korean expansion will be the most important for Binance to establish leadership in the next wave of blockchain and web3 developments.

CZ highlighted recent developments in the region, including SoftBank-backed PayPay’s 40% stake acquisition in Binance Japan, Giggle Academy expansion in Vietnam, and BNB treasury-focused investments in China Renaissance by CZ’s family office YZi Labs.

BNB price skyrocketed nearly 50% in a month to hit an ATH of $1,370. The price is currently trading 2% lower at $1,186, with a 24-hour low and high of $1,151 and $1,213, respectively. Furthermore, the trading volume has decreased by 40% in the last 24 hours, indicating a decline in interest among traders.