Binance Completes GOPAX Acquisition, Reenters Korean Market

• FIU approval ends Binance’s two-year wait to finalize the GOPAX acquisition.
• Binance regains South Korean market access after resolving U.S. compliance disputes.
• GOPAX under Binance may challenge Upbit’s dominance in South Korea’s crypto sector.

FIU Approval Ends Two-Year Delay in GOPAX Takeover

The acquisition to acquire the South Korean virtual asset exchange GOPAX by Binance officially closed a long regulatory standstill. Industry sources officially noted on October 16 that the Financial Intelligence Unit sanctioned the long-awaited executive change request late Wednesday night, which completed the deal. Binance is potentially now the majority stakeholder, with 67% in GOPAX, having operational control and a backdoor to the South Korean market.

It started with Binance buying its controlling stake in February 2023 and filing an “Executive Change Report” with the FIU the next month. But during a period of two and a half years, the financial regulators did not grant a green light since they investigated the consequences of the Binance entrance into the anti-money laundering (AML) system of the country. Authorities were worried about the current compliance issues Binance has been facing in other countries especially in the United States.

In June 2023, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission alleged that Binance had served illegal U.S. customers and mismanaged customer funds. The U.S. Treasury Department and Department of Justice also brought charges against the company around the same period and it was hit with a fine of $4.3 billion because of the AML violations. This has made the Korean regulators cautious to pass the executive approval.

Binance Reenters South Korea’s Competitive Crypto Market

According to regulatory observers, the recent legal settlements Binance concluded in the United States were also a determining factor in the decision of the FIU. In early 2011, the exchange entered into settlements with the Department of Justice and Treasury and its lawsuit in SEC was dismissed. These allegations purportedly made the South Korean financial officials convinced of Binance’s readiness to comply and governance standards.

According to the law of South Korea, virtual asset operators and their executives should be subject to reporting to the FIU, but the major shareholders should not receive separate qualification reviews. Nevertheless, the background of Binance was evaluated by regulators in comparison with the current restrictions that prohibit individuals punished by legislation, like the Foreign Exchange Transactions Act or Capital Markets Act, to conduct crypto business.

The re-entry of Binance in the Korean market is now official with its approval. South Korea is still among the most vibrant digital asset economies in the world, with Upbit dominating almost 75 percent of the trading volume within the country. Analysts in the industry claimed that the liquidity and infrastructure of Binance in the world could increase the competitiveness of GOPAX.

The founder of Binance Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, has pointed out that South Korea is a key strategic location in the overall Asian expansion of the company. The exchange still maintains regional partnerships such as PayPay in Japan, educational initiatives in Vietnam via Giggle Academy, and new investment in China Renaissance via YZi Labs.