According to recent reports, the firm has acquired a stake in a prominent South Korean exchange called Gopax. Back in January, Binance revealed that it was eyeing a 41% stake at Gopax. However, the exchange deleted the post about the same and even refrained from commenting about its initiative. But the funding for the purchase came from the $1 billion Industry Recovery Initiative.
While the percentage of stake that Binance has acquired remains unclear, it managed to bag a “meaningful” equity position. Further addressing this deal, the exchange’s CEO, Changpeng Zhao said,
“We hope that taking this step with GOPAX will further rebuild the Korean crypto and blockchain industry.”
Here’s Binance could turn things around in South Korea
Back in 2021, Binance exited the South Korean market due to low volumes. However, its current partnership with Gopax may assist in better user engagement. Gopax is one of South Korea’s five cryptocurrency trading platforms licensed to provide services to users.
Despite being the last to garner a license, Gopax controls 0.1% of the Korean cryptocurrency market. Upbit is at the top with an 80% monopoly.
It should be noted that Streami Inc., Gopax’s parent firm is one of the 10 largest creditors of Genesis which recently filed for bankruptcy. This wasn’t all, Digital Currency Group [DCG] is the second largest shareholder at Gopax. Considering the ongoing bankruptcy proceedings of these firms, Binance is speculated to have a tough time in the South Korean market.
Nevertheless, Binance intends to bring capital into Gopax. Through this, customer withdrawals as well as interest payments can be carried out. Gopax put a hold on withdrawals for certain products back in November.