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Binance Head of APAC SB Seker said the world’s largest exchange will aim to complete the restitution for South Korea’s GoFi users this year, positioning the firm to challenge the top spot in the local crypto market.
In an interview with The Block on Friday, the Binance executive outlined the clearest timeline yet for resolving the long-running liquidity crisis. This would return lost funds to thousands of South Korean investors and clear a path for Binance to return to the local crypto market.
“We’re definitely looking to try and finish this off this year; it’s been hanging over everybody’s heads for some time,” Seker said. “I think there’s alignment on everybody’s part. Users, us, regulators, and broader stakeholders, everyone wants to close this chapter.”
GoFi, the DeFi service under South Korean crypto exchange Gopax, froze withdrawals in 2023 after its partner, Genesis Global Capital, halted withdrawals and subsequently filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in January 2023.
The crisis led Binance to step in, acquiring a majority stake in Gopax in February 2023 with the intention of injecting capital to help the affected GoFi users. However, South Korean authorities delayed approving Binance’s acquisition of Gopax until late last year.
Following regulatory approval of the Gopax acquisition, Binance said that it will soon unveil the wallet address for the funds earmarked for GoFi user restitution, which is currently under third-party custody.
According to a Thursday notice from Gopax, the wallet holds 11 different cryptocurrencies, including 775.11 BTC, 5,766.62 ETH, and 706,184.46 USDC. The restitution wallet has the same quantities of digital assets lost in GoFi, rather than their fiat value at the time of the freeze. This reflects the significant price appreciation of assets such as bitcoin and ether since the withdrawals were halted.
Binance holds the crypto ready, but still needs further approvals from various South Korean government agencies. The exchange is also finalizing a distribution plan to minimize costs for all parties involved.
Korea expansion strategy
Once repayments are completed, Binance plans to focus on stabilizing and upgrading Gopax, starting with technical and security support by bringing in Binance’s global standards. Any potential upgrades in Gopax operations will be reviewed in the future when necessary, Seker told The Block.
“We’re also upgrading the suite of products that we can eventually offer into the market,” Seker said. “These will be non-controversial, in our view, because these products already exist in the market.”
Rebranding Gopax under the Binance umbrella remains under consideration but has not been confirmed. According to Seker, the focus remains on tailoring offerings to South Korea’s regulatory framework while delivering products aligned with market demand and trends.
Stablecoins, RWA, institutions
Looking further ahead, Binance sees opportunities in stablecoins, real-world asset (RWA) tokenization, and institutional adoption in the South Korean market.
Seker told The Block that Binance could support the distribution of Korean won-pegged stablecoins and payment systems utilizing such tokens, for which local lawmakers are currently working to bring more clarity. He added that distributing tokenized RWAs — beginning with security tokens — through potential partnerships with Korean consortia is another possibility.
Furthermore, Seker said Binance is ready to support Gopax in accommodating institutional customers, which the local exchange is already preparing for. Since last year, South Korea has been gradually easing its de facto ban on corporate crypto investment.
“I think we will harness the mega trends and build the business out in the first 12 months,” Seker said.
Meanwhile, Binance could still face roadblocks, such as a proposal by South Korea’s Financial Services Commission to cap major shareholders’ stakes in crypto exchanges at 15% to 20%. Binance currently holds more than a 67% stake in Gopax.
Seker downplayed concerns about such risks. “It is just another development… We’ve become very, very adept at dealing with these things,” he said. Seker also said that the country’s high level of adoption, combined with a balanced mix of market demand and regulation, makes South Korea “the pinnacle of APAC” and potentially “one of the top three hubs in the world” for digital assets.
“In three years, five years …. I think we will work our ass off to be competitive for the biggest place in the market,” Seker added. Currently, Upbit and Bithumb dominate South Korea’s crypto landscape, with far greater market shares than Gopax. “Whether we overtake them or not, the results matter less than the objective and how we’re trying to get there … We have confidence that the rankings will prove themselves.”
