Binance Returns to South Korea via GOPAX Exchange Acquisition

The Industry Recovery Initiative, a co-investment project created by Binance to support businesses impacted by the FTX exchange collapse, funded the acquisition with a $1 billion commitment from Binance.

Yibo Ling, the Chief Business Officer of Binance, confirmed that the company had acquired a significant ownership stake in Gopax but did not disclose the details of the transaction. The acquisition comes after Gopax suspended withdrawals from some products in November 2022 following FTX’s collapse.

Ling stated that Binance plans to invest additional funds into the exchange to enable customer withdrawals and to support interest payments for Gopax’s yield product, GoFi. The primary objective of the deal is to serve clients and ensure that anyone who wants to withdraw their assets can do so.

Last month, reports based on unnamed industry insiders suggested that Binance was seeking to acquire a 41.2% stake in Gopax. Binance declined to comment on these reports.

Binance CEO, Changpeng Zhao, announced in November that the exchange was preparing to return to South Korea after leaving in 2021 due to tighter local regulations. 

In 2019, Binance started operations in Korea, offering domestic cryptocurrency trading services until its closure in December 2020. 

Additionally, it ceased international trading services for South Korean won in 2021 following a ban by local regulators on unregistered foreign exchanges serving Korean citizens.

All digital asset trading platforms operating in South Korea must comply with local anti-money laundering regulations, including obtaining information security certification and partnering with a local bank to provide customers with real-name deposit and withdrawal accounts.

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