Binance KR has decided to cease its activities in South Korea, according to an announcement released on Thursday. As part of the press release, Binance KR attributed the move to declining liquidity and a low trading volume of its BKRW trading pairs. BKRW is a stable coin tied 1: 1 to the Korean won and used for crypto-to-crypto settlements on the platform.
According to Binance KR, the shutdown schedule will begin with the suspension of all new account registrations on Thursday. The suspension of trading services is scheduled for January 10, 2021. A hard shutdown of the platform and the deletion of all BKRW pairs are expected to happen on January 29th. Binance KR customers now have until January 29th to liquidate their BKRW stocks for the BUSD stablecoin or other supported cryptocurrencies.
As previously reported by Cointelegraph, Malta-based crypto exchange giant Binance announced the launch of its South Korean platform back in March. At the time, the news confirmed months of speculation that Binance, in partnership with local fintech company BxB, is pursuing expansion plans for the country.
Binance KR reports a drop in liquidity for trading won-backed trading pairs. This is symptomatic of previous volume issues reported in the broader South Korean crypto market. As early as August 2019, it was reported that 97% of local exchanges were in danger of bankruptcy.
Tighter regulations have reportedly forced blockchain outfits to run token listings on overseas exchanges, further exacerbating the problem of trading volume in the country. In 2020, the South Korean authorities finally legalized trading in cryptocurrencies, while also imposing strict compliance with trading accounts with real names.
