TechFlow news — Binance has acquired a majority stake in South Korean exchange GOPAX, with funding from Binance's previously announced $1 billion "Industry Recovery Initiative." Specific terms of the acquisition have not been disclosed.
GOPAX suspended customer withdrawals in November 2022. Its parent company, Streami Inc., is one of the top 10 known creditors of Genesis Global, which was also a partner providing yield products for GOPAX. According to a blog post by GOPAX, DCG, the parent company of Genesis, is the second-largest shareholder of GOPAX.
Binance plans to inject capital into GOPAX to enable its GoFi yield product to resume customer withdrawals and interest payments. CZ stated that he hopes to work with GOPAX to further rebuild South Korea’s cryptocurrency and blockchain industry.
Earlier in January, sources indicated that Binance had recently completed due diligence on the acquisition of South Korean exchange GOPAX and was undergoing final confirmation procedures. "The acquisition was originally planned to be announced around last Christmas, but discussions are now ongoing regarding equity valuation." It is reported that Binance intends to acquire shares from Junhaeng Lee, CEO and largest shareholder of GOPAX (holding 41.2%), while temporarily maintaining the existing management structure to ensure operational stability.
Additionally, reports suggest that GOPAX owes up to 60 billion Korean won (approximately $47 million) to customers of its GOFi crypto wealth management products, including fixed-term deposits, flexible-term products without maturity dates, deposit service interest, and delayed interest accrued due to withdrawal suspensions.Original link
