Binance to acquire the fifth-largest South Korean exchange Gopax

Binance is considering buying the fifth-largest virtual asset platform in South Korea, Gopax. The company has reportedly completed its due diligence and is ready to take the final steps.

According to the Korean media Decenter, Binance is looking forward to purchasing a 41.2% stake from Gopax CEO Lee Jun-Haeng. Per sources cited by the outlet, Jun-Haeng is the largest shareholder of the South Korean crypto platform.

Decenter reports that Binance might not lay off the current Gopax CEO to hold steady management for the time being. 

“We originally planned to announce the acquisition around Christmas last year, but we are in the process of final discussions on the value of the stake.”

Person familiar with the acquisition cited by Decenter.

Gopax is the fifth-major crypto exchange in the region, following Upbit, Bitsum, Coinone, and Corbit. The report by Decenter adds that Gopax “suffered a liquidity crisis due to a series of bad news such as global austerity measures and FTX bankruptcy.”

Decenter adds that Binance did not comment on the matter. Gopax, in its turn, said it could not confirm the facts.

Binance acquires major crypto exchanges across the world

Binance has recently entered the Japanese markets with a 100% acquisition of the Sakura Exchange Bitcoin (SEBC), per crypto.news report. Subsequently, Binance’s new users in Japan had to register on the local exchange while existing customers were not affected.

Binance also acquired the leading crypto exchange in Indonesia, Tokocrypto, last month. According to a report on Dec. 19, 58% of Tokocrypto’s staff were laid off.

As Binance’s due diligence for the acquisition deal comes to an end, the leading exchange is facing trouble from the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) for acquiring the bankrupt crypto lending platform, Voyager Digital. Binance offered to pay $20 million to Voyager’s clients, but the deal is being delayed or might even be blocked by the CFIUS, according to crypto.news report.