Binance Korea is closing due to insufficient trading volume

Less than a year after it opened, the South Korean branch of Binance is closing again.

Binance KR, the South Korean offshoot of the market-leading crypto exchange Binance, will cease operations

As can be seen from the corresponding press release on Thursday, the platform decided to take this step because of decreasing liquidity and low trading volume for its proprietary BKRW stablecoin. The BKRW is a Profit Revolution that is linked to the South Korean won at a ratio of 1: 1.

According to the press release, the closure will begin this Thursday, so that no new user accounts can be created. Trading will then cease from January 10, 2021, followed by a full shutdown on January 29. Accordingly, all users of Binance KR only have until January 29 to convert their crypto funds in the form of the BKRW stablecoin into the associated BUSD stablecoin or another cryptocurrency supported by Binance.

The Malta-based crypto exchange Binance only announced the founding of its South Korean branch in March

This confirmed previous rumors that the market-leading crypto trading platform, in cooperation with the fintech company BxB , would seek expansion into South Korea.

The low liquidity for trading the company’s own stablecoin in won is symptomatic of the low crypto trading volume in South Korea. As early as August 2019, there were reports that many of the country’s crypto exchanges were in trouble or had to close completely.

Strict legal requirements are also said to have forced many South Korean blockchain companies to list their cryptocurrencies on foreign exchanges, which torpedoed the trading volume even more. In 2020, South Korea’s authorities have finally legalized crypto trading , but the strict requirements remain in place.