As a re-entry means into the South Korean crypto market after two years, Binance cryptocurrency exchange has acquired a majority stake in South Korea’s crypto exchange GOPAX.
Bitcoin exchange A majority interest in GOPAX, a South Korean cryptocurrency exchange, has been bought by Binance. The “Industry Recovery Initiative,” which is headed by Binance, provided the cash for the transaction.
Bitcoin exchange According to a February 3 Bloomberg story, Binance has purchased GOPAX, a cryptocurrency exchange in South Korea. Binance said last month that it has finished the necessary research to buy GOPAX.
The negotiations came to a close when CEO Lee Jun-haeng, who owns 41.2% of Gopax, was aiming to sell a controlling interest to Binance. Among GOPAX’s shareholders, Barry Silbert’s Digital Currency Group is the second-largest.
Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, CEO of Binance, commented on the transaction.
“We hope that taking this step with GOPAX will further rebuild the Korean crypto and blockchain industry.”
The CEO of Binance was aggressively seeking re-entry into South Korea after the company left in January 2021. South Korea, which is still a desirable market for Binance, has one of the biggest crypto economies in the world as well as a thriving startup scene and an exceptional talent pool.
The most crucial expansion for Binance to take the lead in the next wave of blockchain and web3 advancements will be in South Korea.
Genesis’ suspension of client withdrawals and redemptions after FTX’s insolvency had an influence on Binance’s GOPAX takeover transaction. Customers of GOPAX’s wealth management product GoFi, who were impacted by Genesis’ decision to cease redemptions, required repayment of around $47 million.
In order to enable client withdrawals and interest payments for the yield product GoFi, Binance intends to invest cash into GOPAX.
According to Yibo Ling, a chief business officer of Binance, “the main aim of this transaction was to help clients and make sure that any customers who wish to withdraw their assets have the opportunity to do so.”