Korbit CEO Oh Se-jin has secured a third consecutive term. Korbit says it reappointed Oh to renew its virtual asset service provider (VASP) registration, but industry observers say the ultimate goal of renewing VASP status is for Korbit's parent NXC to sell Korbit.
According to the virtual asset industry on the 19th, Korbit recently held an extraordinary shareholders' meeting and reappointed Oh, whose term had expired. Oh took office in Jan. 2020, was reappointed at the end of 2022, and served as CEO through this year. Oh's third term runs through 2028.
The stated reason for reappointing Oh is VASP renewal. Under the Act on Reporting and Using Specified Financial Transaction Information, virtual asset service providers must renew their filings every three years, and financial authorities mainly evaluate executive expertise and governance continuity. To safely navigate the renewal review, the company chose to retain the existing management.
The industry offers another interpretation. A financial industry official said, "Korbit's VASP renewal is focused on maintaining a state where a future sale is possible rather than on continuing operations," adding, "They need to keep their virtual asset service provider status to sell to an overseas exchange." On Oct., domestic virtual asset exchange Gopax was acquired by Binance, the world's largest exchange.
Founded in 2013, Korbit was acquired in 2017 by NXC, the holding company of game maker Nexon, and in 2021 SK Planet (then SK Square) invested equity. Korbit's equity is currently 60.5% held by NXC and 31.5% by SK Planet. The two companies pushed the business together during the virtual asset market boom, but Korbit's market share remained in the 0% range and losses continued, resulting in poor business performance.
NXC has been exploring a sale of Korbit since last year. However, talks repeatedly broke down as it failed to find common ground on price with potential buyers. Overseas exchange Bybit and domestic Blockchain infrastructure corporations DSRV also contacted Korbit.