Lee Yeon-woo is a financial journalist at The Korea Times. Her wide range of reporting includes policies, macroeconomics, stock market, companies and even crypto. She is passionate about connecting the dots in Korean finance and making it easier for foreign nationals to understand. Based on her previous experience as a national reporter, she also has a keen interest in social issues within the sector, including gender equality and ESG. Your tips and insights are always appreciated. You can send them to yanu@koreatimes.co.kr.
INTERVIEW Binance prepares institutional, payments push via GOPAX in Korea
An illustration combining the Binance logo and cryptocurrency / Reuters-Yonhap
By Lee Yeon-woo
GoFi compensation shows progress, though hurdles remain
Binance Head of APAC SB Seker speaks to The Korea Times via video call at his office in Seoul, Friday. Courtesy of Binance
HONG KONG — Binance is accelerating its expansion in Korea through local cryptocurrency exchange GOPAX, now under its control, as it prepares to support institutional adoption and build payment infrastructure in 2026.
"Twenty-three percent of last year’s global growth came from institutional adoption," SB Seker, head of Asia-Pacific at Binance, told The Korea Times in a video interview Friday. "We think the same will happen if (regulatory) development takes up in Korea. The uptake will be similar, if not more."
His comments came as Korean regulators gradually move to lift shadow restrictions on crypto integration in traditional finance. Authorities recently ended a nine-year ban on corporate crypto investments and are drafting the second phase of legislation — tentatively named the Digital Asset Basic Act — targeted for passage in 2026.
In addition to its core services such as spot trading and digital asset products, Binance aims to establish infrastructure for institutional treasury management and cross-border stablecoin settlement.
Seker expected Korean firms to start allocating crypto on their balance sheets and diversifying risk across venues if regulations are cleared.
Payments are another key focus. While crypto-backed payments and remittances remain restricted for domestic users, Binance is exploring partnerships with licensed local payment providers to enable inbound transactions from overseas visitors — a move Seker hopes will set a good precedent for regulators.
The exchange’s 2026 road map coincides with ongoing procedures related to compensation for investors in GOPAX’s GOFi product.
GOFi is an interest-paying product from GOPAX for investors who have deposited cryptocurrencies. However, after the collapse of the FTX exchange in 2022, customer deposits totaling approximately 1,000 bitcoins were frozen.
In 2023, Binance acquired GOPAX under investment terms that included repaying debts associated with the GOFi service. Last October, financial authorities approved Binance’s executive change filing for GOPAX, and the process officially moved forward.
On Thursday, GOPAX disclosed a cryptocurrency wallet secured within a third-party custodian for compensating GOFi victims. The amount held is approximately 130 billion won ($90.52 million).
"What we've done is to demonstrate transparency and confidence in the market that our intention is there," Seker said.
When asked about the remaining process in compensating GOFi victims, Seker pointed to regulatory and legal constraints in Korea. He explained that the repayment must be made through GOPAX’s balance sheet under current Korean law, which means Binance must first capitalize the company.
Seker also cited execution costs related to converting crypto to fiat and back, noting that final distributions may fluctuate depending on market liquidity and asset prices at the time. Binance is working to minimize these costs to preserve value for GOFi creditors. At the same time, the firm is seeking full shareholder approval from minority shareholders.
"It's taken us three years to get a change of control. We still have a few hoops to jump through," Seker said. "We need to eventually repay the GOFi debt. These are all administrative uplift tasks we need to complete to get back to baseline. From there, we can move forward at full speed with the business."