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Binance in Final Stages to Buy This South Korean Crypto Exchange

Various outlets assert that an agreement in principle has been reached about the deal. However, they note that before the purchase can be finalized and made official, there are still a few final outstanding procedural and legal barriers that need to be crossed.

Photo by Daniel Bernard / Unsplash

According to Recent Reports, Binance Is Getting Ready to Sign a Contract with a South Korean Exchange Gopax

According to various reports from local media (2) outlets, Binance is reportedly on the verge of finalizing a deal to purchase a majority share in the South Korean crypto currency exchange Gopax.

Various outlets assert that an agreement in principle has been reached about the deal. However, they note that before the purchase can be finalized and made official, there are still a few final outstanding procedural and legal barriers that need to be crossed.

Should Binance finish the move, which looks to have been in the process for a few months, the largest crypto currency exchange in the world will have direct access to the high-volume market in South Korea.

GoPax exchange trading volume for last 20 Days. Chart Source: coingecko (1.1)

Only five local exchanges have been permitted to trade fiat Korean won, and Gopax is one among those exchanges. Additionally, the exchange has a financial partnership with Joenbuk Bank, through which individual bank accounts are made available to every Gopax customer.

Gopax Denies Reports

According (2) to Money S, Gopax has refuted suggestions that the transaction has been finalized and stated that it was "unable to confirm" whether or not the reports contained accurate information.

On the other hand, Decenter asserted (3) that Binance had already "completed" the "acquisition of Gopax." The news organization stated in their article that Binance was "completing the necessary procedures" before "confirming the procedure."

The news organization reported that an unnamed source close to the transaction had revealed that Binance "planned to disclose the takeover around Christmas last year." However, the source also mentioned that a few remaining challenges remained.

According to Newsis (4), these could relate to discussions with minor owners and "procedural inspections" of international investors who desire to conduct business in South Korea.

In addition, Decenter stated that it

"cannot rule out the possibility that the [South Korean] financial authorities, whose stance on investor protection has become more assertive in recent times, will impose direct or indirect sanctions on this takeover."

Binance's Ambitions in the South Korean Crypto Market

Decenter also claimed that Binance intends to purchase a controlling 41.2% stake from Lee Jun-haeng, who is the CEO of Gopax and the company's largest single stakeholder. However, the media outlet asserted that Binance plans to keep the Gopax management team in place - at least for the foreseeable future.

Gopax holds only a very insignificant portion of the South Korean market, approximately 1%, and Upbit is now the leader in this industry. According to the figures made by Decenter, the latter holds an enormous 80 percent of the market.

Upbit last 30 days exchange trading volume. Graph Source: coingecko (2.1)

However, some media publications projected that Binance's introduction into the market would cause a commotion inside the industry. They pointed out that this would be the case, especially if Binance and Gopax started sharing their order books.

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