The ongoing bear market has had a huge impact on the entire crypto-verse. Layoffs, losses, and washouts have become a routine now. Amidst all of this, Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange continues to hold a clear vision of expansion. Changpeng Zhao has constantly been veering into different markets over the last couple of weeks hoping to snag licenses. Now, CZ revealed that he was considering returning to South Korea.
South Korea has been in the news, a lot lately. The Korean government has been taking significant steps to regulate the crypto market, particularly after the whole Terra crash. While deeply assessing the situation, the government has been drafting new laws as well. In midst of this chaotic time, Binance’s potential entry into the region could be more challenging than expected.
Currently, CZ is at the VivaTech event taking place in France. Speaking to a Korean news portal, the CEO of Binance reportedly hinted at the re-entry into the region.
Back in August 2021, Binance decided to pull the plug on the trading pairs associated with the South Korean Won. In addition to this, all things South Korean were removed from the exchange. Prior to this, in 2020 the exchange announced that it would terminate its operations in South Korea due to low volume and usage.
Despite this, the exchange has continued forming partnerships with several entertainment giants to explore the Web3 part of the digital world.
Has Binance been planning this all along?
Litecoin [LTC] made a significant comeback this year with MimbleWimble [MWEB]. However, the privacy tag that the asset carried with it, proved to be damaging for the altcoin. Several South Korean exchanges went on to instantly drop support for LTC. Binance followed suit and became one of the first mainstream exchanges to eliminate support for LTC’s MWEB wing.
In addition to this, anxiety instilled by the bears persisted in the market, and CZ was preparing to expand. In a recent interview, the Binance CEO revealed how crypto winters allowed the firm to leverage the market balance and employ it to the max.
Update – Changpeng Zhao took to Twitter and poured cold water on the rumor. He affirmed that it was a mere possibility and that no solid plans to enter the South Korean market were in place. CZ generally told an individual who approached him for a picture that Binance was looking into the Korean market. However, taking it quite literally, the news portal suggested that Binance would re-enter the South Korean market. But, CZ noted that they “look into” almost every market.
CZ further pointed out that the exchange’s decision to bid adieu to the region was highly associated with the lack of competition and bad UX, as opposed to regulatory pressure.