Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange is set to launch a crypto-to-crypto exchange in South Korea through its cloud solution. According to a blog post on March 31, 2020, the new exchange is known as Binance KR and will be open for trading starting from April 4, 2020.
Ripple’s cryptocurrency, XRP, could be poised to be one of the biggest beneficiaries of Binance’s entry into the South Korean market – here’s why.
Binance Forays Into The South Korean Market With Launch Of Binance KR
Binance Ltd. recently acquired fintech firm BxB in a strategic partnership between the two. Notably, BxB launched the first stablecoin backed by the Korean won, KRWb. Following the acquisition, Binance will be launching its own cryptocurrency exchange in South Korea, Binance KR.
Binance KR will be the first exchange to be launched through Binance Cloud which was unveiled in February this year. The new exchange will give South Korean customers access to all the functionalities present in the main Binance trading platform.
Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao took to Twitter to announce the wonderful news with a tweet in the Korean language followed by the South Korean flag. The tweet roughly translates to “Hello South Korea”.
안녕하세요
— CZ Binance
Slowly but surely. https://t.co/LyljmkjADL(@cz_binance) March 31, 2020
Binance KR is a crypto-to-crypto exchange. As such, fiat deposits will not be allowed. Users will instead leverage BKRW, a stablecoin pegged to the Korean won. For its initial phase, Binance KR will allow the trading of bitcoin (BTC), ethereum (ETH) and Binance Coin (BNB). The exchange plans to soon add Tether (USDT) and Binance USD (BUSD).
The official announcement also notes that Binance will be adding more products for its South Korean customers. With Ripple’s vigorous efforts to gain a strong foothold in South Korea, the listing of XRP would be of tremendous benefit.
XRP Likely To Benefit The Most From Binance’s Entry Into South Korea
In recent weeks, Ripple Labs, the San Fransisco-based blockchain firm behind XRP cryptocurrency has upped its expansion efforts in South Korea. The fintech company recently forged partnerships with three money transfer firms in South Korea, namely Hanpass, Sentbe, and WireBarley. These three firms will be utilizing RippleNet for real-time and inexpensive cross-border payments.
More importantly, Ripple hired banking and financial payments expert, Kevin Lee, to spearhead its expansion into South Korea. As ZyCrypto reported, Lee previously worked with major payment companies including Mastercard and Visa.
Now that Ripple is already strengthening its presence in South Korea, having XRP listed on Binance KR seems inevitable. And such a move will further give the world’s third-most valuable cryptocurrency the much-needed exposure for its global expansion.
