Korean media: Binance has acquired South Korea's top five exchange "Gopax"

According to the report by South Korean media Decenter, Binance has acquired Gopax, one of the top five exchanges in South Korea. Sources familiar with the matter revealed that Binance has completed due diligence and will acquire a 41.2% stake from the largest shareholder.

Binance's Market Strategy in South Korea

Gopax is one of the top five exchanges in South Korea, alongside Upbit, Bitsum, Coinone, and Corbit.

In 2020, Binance initially launched its South Korean exchange, Binance KR, but terminated its operations after a few months citing "limited trading pairs, low user activity, and trading volume" as reasons for closure.

Decenter pointed out that this was due to Binance's inability to comply with South Korean regulations on anti-money laundering and investor protection at that time.

However, at the end of August last year, FTX and Binance signed a business agreement with the city of Busan, South Korea, aiming to promote the development of the Busan blockchain industry.

Now with one less competitor, Binance was expected to establish exchange operations in the region by the end of the year, with the cooperation potentially involving sharing order book liquidity, possibly indicating ongoing discussions for the acquisition of Gopax.

Upbit holds over 80% market share in South Korea, but if Binance can share order book with Gopax, the situation may change. However, according to Kwon Oh-hoon, a partner at Cha & Kwon Law Firm, it may be challenging for Binance to promote derivative trading through Gopax due to South Korean regulations.

Both Gopax and Binance's official Twitter accounts have not clarified the situation. Decenter stated that Binance declined to respond, while Gopax mentioned they could not confirm the matter.