Korbit, the fourth-largest virtual asset exchange in South Korea, and Bybit, the second-largest virtual asset exchange in the world, have reached an acquisition agreement.
Since its founding in 2018, Bybit, a Chinese-owned international virtual asset exchange, has expanded quickly thanks to its practical futures trading platform.
The rush towards S.Korea
Global virtual asset titans are indicating their ambition to enter the Korean market, as the country’s financial institutions and virtual asset business are now constrained by a number of rules.
The fifth-largest exchange in Korea, GOPAX, was acquired by Binance, the biggest exchange in the world, last month.
The virtual asset business announced on the 10th that Bybit has apparently started the purchase process after meeting with Korbit’s management. The industry views Bybit’s acquisition of Korbit as a logical next step, even if it is still in its early phases. That same day, Korbit declared, “We cannot comment on ongoing matters.”
A change in the financial authorities’ position is said to have impacted Bybit’s aggressive pursuit of Korbit’s purchase. On the fifteenth of last month, two and a half years after Binance’s application in March 2023, the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) under the FSC granted Binance’s request to replace GOPAX officials.
According to analysts, global virtual asset businesses are attempting to penetrate the Korean market through mergers and acquisitions (M&A) since the authorities have essentially permitted foreign exchanges to purchase domestic exchanges.
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More on Korbit
The parent company of Nexon, NXC, owns 60.5% of Korbit, while SK Planet owns 31.5%. Bybit is apparently contemplating purchasing all of NXC’s shares, concentrating on this holding, since SK has been actively recovering investments tied to its virtual asset company. After the US, Korea is the second-biggest market for trading virtual assets.
Reverse discrimination against local financial institutions is predicted to become more contentious as international exchanges step up their efforts.
Banks, insurance companies, and securities firms are not allowed to participate in virtual asset-related enterprises under the “separation of financial institutions from virtual asset-related businesses.”
Bybit’s development
In September, Bybit and Sygnum established a collaboration to provide institutional clients with off-exchange custody via Sygnum Protect. The solution connects Sygnum Bank’s Swiss-regulated custody with Bybit’s trading platform. It seeks to enable institutions to trade on Bybit while keeping assets off the balance sheet.
Additionally, Bybit has given Indian consumers full access to its app on Google Play and the App Store. The website will be completely functioning in three to four days after a gradual restart.
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