Binance reported that its agreement to acquire crypto exchange Gopax to re-enter South Korea failed. According to sources, Gopax signed an agreement with another exchange.
Binance faces challenges in efforts to re-enter South Korea
As we reported as Kriptokoin.com, Binance first took the step of re-entering the South Korean market by purchasing Gopax in January. Binance even bought majority shares of the exchange for buyout at one point.
Gopax has terminated its Binance deal, local sources reported on August 25. The South Korean-based exchange allegedly signed a trading contract with a domestic crypto exchange instead of Binance.
This means that Gopax’s main shareholder will likely move to a new buyer. However, the details of the purchasing party have not been disclosed yet. Gopax plans to make an official announcement next week. A Gopax official, on the other hand, denied claims that another crypto exchange had signed an acquisition agreement. “This is not true. “There’s nothing we can confirm about the purchase,” he said.
Gopax also announced that while Genesis suspended client withdrawals and refunds, it made a portion of the outstanding funds as a payment to its wealth management product GoFi. The attempt to acquire Binance and Gopax has faced hurdles due to regulatory pressure from both the South Korean Financial Services Commission (FSC) and the US SEC. As the leading exchange was about to complete its acquisition, the SEC lawsuit further complicated the situation.
Legal battle continues in the USA
Binance is recruiting successful lawyers to challenge the SEC and reduce its impact on the crypto industry. Companies like Binance, Coinbase, and Ripple argue that the SEC is acting in excess of its own regulatory authority. Recently, attorney Andrew Rhys Davies sided with Binance and applied for professional support. The attorney stepped in to seek court protection after BinanceUS circumvented the SEC’s agreed consent order.
As Cryptokoin.com reported, Binance is having a hard time maintaining its high-level partnerships due to the ongoing legal battle. This week, payment giants Mastercard and Visa decided to end their card partnership with Binance.
According to Bloomberg, a spokesperson for Binance stated that Visa has stopped issuing new co-branded cards with Binance in Europe since July. Launched in September 2020, the Binance Visa Card allows consumers to pay for basic day-to-day expenses with funds held in crypto…
— Wu Blockchain (@WuBlockchain) August 25, 2023
In January, Binance bought a majority stake in GOPAX. Shortly thereafter, it announced that it had completed its due diligence on the acquisition of GOPAX. According to the latest developments, Gopax is giving up on transferring its platform to Binance. Gopax plans to settle with a South Korean-based stock exchange instead. Meanwhile, GOPAX had entered Binance’s acquisition radar with the collapse of FTX and Genesis.
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