South Korean regulators have reopened their review of Binance’s long-delayed acquisition of local crypto exchange Gopax, suggesting the world’s largest crypto exchange could soon re-enter the country.
Key points to remember:
- South Korea’s FIU has resumed review of Binance’s acquisition of Gopax, with approval possible by the end of 2025.
- Examining Gopax’s leadership changes effectively serves as a test of Binance’s qualification as a majority shareholder.
- Binance’s $4.3 billion US settlement appears to have allayed South Korean regulators’ prior AML concerns.
According to a report published by Newsis on Tuesday, the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) is currently reviewing Gopax’s official report on changes to its top executives, a move directly linked to Binance’s involvement, and the review is reportedly progressing favorably.
Approval could come as soon as the end of 2025.
Binance’s fate in Korea depends on executive review
Under South Korean law, there is no separate system for assessing the suitability of major shareholders for crypto exchanges.
As a result, the FIU’s review of Gopax’s management changes effectively serves as a verification process for Binance’s qualification as a majority shareholder.
Binance first acquired a 67% stake in Gopax in February 2023, becoming its largest shareholder.
The exchange and Gopax jointly filed the management change report in March 2023, but local regulators froze the approval process due to anti-money laundering (AML) concerns.
This delay coincided with Binance’s legal troubles in the United States, where the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) accused the company of unregistered operations and AML violations.
Binance then reached a $4.3 billion deal with U.S. authorities, which appears to have allayed the concerns of South Korean regulators, Newsis said.
Gopax is among the few South Korean exchanges authorized to handle cash-to-crypto transactions, a designation that requires strict compliance with KYC and AML standards.
The platform suffered a major liquidity crisis in early 2023 after its DeFi partner, Genesis Global Capital, froze withdrawals related to Gopax’s GoFi product.
Following Genesis’ Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing, approximately $47 million (56.6 billion yen) of user funds remained inaccessible.
Binance’s acquisition of Gopax was initially presented as a rescue effort, aimed at restoring customer confidence and injecting funds to compensate affected users.
However, as regulatory hurdles persisted, Binance reportedly considered selling part of its stake in Gopax to local cloud provider Megazone to reduce its ownership stake, a deal that ultimately fell through in late 2024, The Bell reported.
South Korea orders crypto exchanges to suspend lending services
In August, South Korea’s financial regulator moved to curb risky lending practices in the digital assets sector, ordering local exchanges to suspend all crypto lending services until a proper regulatory framework is established.
The crackdown occurred amid South Korea’s broader pivot toward regulated crypto adoption. Authorities are lifting restrictions on institutional trading and preparing to approve the country’s first spot crypto ETFs.
President Lee Jae Myung’s administration is also working on a stablecoin framework pegged to the Korean won, signaling a more open approach to digital finance despite the latest restrictions.
Most recently, Dunamu, the operator of South Korea’s largest cryptocurrency exchange Upbit, unveiled a new custody service aimed at corporate and institutional clients, as regulatory green lights for investments in virtual assets drive growing demand for secure storage solutions.
The service stores all deposited digital assets in cold wallets, completely offline and isolated from internet-based threats, to protect assets against cyberattacks and other external breaches.
The article South Korea Resumes Review of Binance’s Gopax Acquisition After Two-Year Hiatus appeared first on Cryptonews.
