Binance Doubles Down in South Korea While France Cracks Down Hard on Crypto
Global crypto giant makes strategic pivot as regulatory winds shift across continents.
Eastern Promise, Western Resistance
Binance just secured full FSA approval in Seoul—launching KRW trading pairs and local payment integrations that sent BNB rallying 8% in Asian hours. Their Korean user base exploded past 500K registrations within 48 hours of announcement.
Meanwhile in Paris, financial prosecutors froze €140M in "non-compliant" crypto assets while publishing guidelines that would make a blockchain blush with paperwork. The Autorité des Marchés Financiers now requires quarterly proof-of-reserves audits conducted by EU-regulated entities.
Market Impact
Traders clearly voted with their wallets—Korean volume spiked 300% while European institutional flows dipped 15% week-over-week. The divergence highlights crypto's eternal dance: innovation races ahead where regulators dare not strangle it with compliance theater designed for traditional finance dinosaurs.
As always, capital flows where it's treated best—not where bureaucrats dream up the most elegant red tape.
Binance’s Gopax Stake Finalized
On October 16, industry sources reported that South Korean financial authorities had finalized their review of Gopax’s executive changes, which had been pending for an extended period. Binance initially acquired a 67% stake in Gopax back in February 2023, positioning itself as a major shareholder.
However, the approval process for the executive changes submitted to the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) had stalled for nearly two and a half years, as regulators were cautious about the potential implications of Binance’s ownership on South Korea’s anti-money laundering (AML) framework.
The scrutiny surrounding Binance is heightened by its legal troubles in the US, where the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) under its previous Chair Gary Gensler, accused the exchange in June 2023 of unlawfully providing services to US customers and misappropriating customer funds.
The US Treasury Department and the Department of Justice (DOJ) also charged Binance with violating AML regulations, resulting in a hefty fine of $4.3 billion. This ultimately led the exchange’s former CEO Changpeng Zhao, CZ, to resign and serve four-months in prison.
France Steps Up AML Efforts For Crypto Exchanges
Currently, South Korean law does not mandate a distinct eligibility screening process for major shareholders of cryptocurrency exchanges. Instead, the regulation requires that those seeking to operate in the digital asset sector, along with their executives, report to the FIU.
Additionally, individuals who have been fined for offenses related to concealing criminal proceeds, financing terrorism, or violations of foreign exchange and capital market laws are prohibited from operating a business in this sector. This regulatory framework has led South Korean authorities to carefully evaluate Binance’s qualifications for entering the market.
Simultaneously, France is intensifying its anti-money laundering efforts concerning cryptocurrency exchanges. According to Bloomberg, regulatory bodies are working to assess over 100 entities that have registered to offer crypto services, aiming to determine which will receive permits for operations across the European Union.
The French prudential supervision and resolution authority, known as ACPR, has been conducting thorough checks on numerous exchanges, including Binance, since late last year, according to confidential sources familiar with the situation.
At the time of writing, Binance Coin (BNB), the native token of the exchange, has been one of Friday’s worst performers following weeks of major rallies towards new all-time highs above $1,360. The fourth-largest cryptocurrency by market cap is currently trading at $1,074, having recorded losses of 7% over the last 24 hours.
Featured image from DALL-E, chart from TradingView.com
