Binance is reportedly in the final stages of negotiations to sell a majority stake in South Korean exchange Gopax to local cloud service provider Megazone.
According to a July 11 report by South Korea’s Chosun Ilbo, the move is part of Binance’s efforts to address governance concerns raised by local financial authorities.
Binance initially acquired a 72.26% stake in Gopax in February 2023, aiming to re-enter the South Korean market after ceasing multiple operations in the country in 2021. However, the planned capital injection was blocked by South Korean financial authorities, who denied the change of the largest shareholder.
According to the report, an anonymous industry insider connected to Gopax indicated that the sale is part of Binance’s efforts to improve its governance structure, as requested by local financial authorities.
Binance reportedly plans to reduce its current stake to as low as 10%.
According to the exchange’s statement, the decision was influenced by Binance’s regulatory challenges in the United States, including a lawsuit from the US Securities and Exchange Commission, which raised further regulatory concerns in South Korea.
Recent developments indicate that Binance.US is preparing for an extended legal confrontation with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). On June 28, 2024, a U.S. federal judge ruled to uphold most charges brought by the regulator against the exchange. In response, the American arm of the global cryptocurrency platform released a statement on social media platform X:
“We anticipated this outcome and are ready to proceed through the judicial process.”
Meanwhile, these sale negotiations came just weeks before Gopax was due to renew its real-name account contract with Jeonbuk Bank in August. The two-year contract, signed in August 2022, is set to expire on August 11, 2024.
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