South Korean regulator delays Gopax acquisition

Quick Take

  • The South Korean Financial Services Commission has postponed the exchange’s acquisition of crypto exchange Gopax.

The South Korean Financial Services Commission is delaying Binance’s acquisition of crypto exchange Gopax.

The FSC has postponed approving the transfer of ownership, according to local media outlet Newspim. The acquisition was first delayed over allegations of money laundering at Binance. But it’s now being delayed further due to a pending risk assessment, per edaily.

The acquisition has an impact on some Gopax customers. Its product GoFi was left with bad debt after the collapse of crypto exchange FTX. Binance said it was planning to cover this shortfall. 

Gopax claimed that if the US government did seize Binance’s assets, it wouldn’t affect the funds being used for making GoFi whole.

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"Binance has bases in many places, and we understand that funds for GoFi repayments are coming from a holding company based in Ireland,” a spokesperson told Newspim. "Binance has entities in multiple locations, and it is my understanding that the funds for GoFi recovery come from the holding company in Ireland. Funds do not come from a US based Binance entity (holding company) but from the IRI (Industry Recovery Initiative), which was supported by collaborative partners and investments."

Binance initially announced the acquisition in February, saying it had acquired a majority stake in the exchange. At the time, Binance said it was spending funds from its industry recovery initiative on the acquisition.

Update: The article has been updated to clarify the reason for the delay.


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About Author

Tim is the Editor-In-Chief of The Block. Prior to joining The Block, Tim was a news editor at Decrypt. He has earned a bachelor's degree in philosophy from the University of York and studied news journalism at Press Association Training. Follow him on X @Timccopeland.