Binance Acquires Majority Stake in Gopax

Through its recent purchase of the South Korean cryptocurrency trading platform Gopax, the major cryptocurrency exchange Binance is making its way back to South Korea.

Binance has reentered the South Korean market after leaving it two years ago, according to an announcement made by the business on February 3, stating that it has purchased a controlling position in Gopax, which is funded by Digital Currency Group. The financing for the deal was provided by a finance-initiated investment initiative called as the Industry Recovery Initiative, to which Binance committed an amount equal to one billion dollars.

Binance, according to the CEO of the company, Changpeng Zhao, is not only responsible for safeguarding cryptocurrency consumers, but also the cryptocurrency industry as a whole. “The Industry Recovery Initiative was established in order to provide help to promising businesses that were knocked back as a result of the happenings of the previous year. We have high hopes that taking this step with GOPAX will contribute to the further revitalization of the blockchain and cryptocurrency industries in Korea,” he said.

According to reports, Binance Chief Business Officer Yibo Ling said that the company has bought a “significant” stock holding at Gopax. However, Ling did not disclose the specifics of the transaction. Previous reports stated that Binance bought a 41% interest from Gopax’s main shareholder, Lee Jun-hang, despite the fact that the transaction was initially scheduled to be revealed a year ago.

After Gopax temporarily suspended withdrawals from some products in November 2022 in response to the collapse of the FTX exchange, the transaction was finalised a few months later.

As a response to problems encountered by the crypto lending company Genesis Global Capital, which has now gone out of business, Gopax has suspended the withdrawal of principal and interest payments via its decentralised finance (DeFi) service GoFi. According to reports, before to filing for bankruptcy, Genesis was Gopax’s second biggest stakeholder and a crucial commercial partner, contributing its GoFi product.

Binance intends to invest the newly acquired funds into the Gopax exchange in order to facilitate client withdrawals and interest payments for GoFi after the completion of the transaction. In addition to promoting crypto education, the programme intends to foster close engagement with the authorities in South Korea and the players in virtual asset markets.

According to what Ling had to say about the matter, “the essential aim of this arrangement was to help clients and make sure that any customers who wish to withdraw their assets have the chance to do so.”