[Alpha Biz= Paul Lee] Gopax, operated by Streami, posted a net profit of over KRW 10 billion last year, returning to the black on its books. However, the turnaround was largely driven by cryptocurrency valuation gains, while its core exchange business continued to deteriorate.
According to filings with the Financial Supervisory Service on April 14, Streami reported revenue of KRW 4.33 billion, down 46% from KRW 8.03 billion a year earlier.
Operating loss widened significantly to KRW 7.68 billion, up 157% from KRW 2.98 billion the previous year, reflecting declining trading volumes amid a weakened crypto market.
In contrast, net profit reached KRW 13.1 billion, compared with a net loss of KRW 130.5 billion a year earlier. The improvement was driven by a sharp increase in valuation gains on crypto assets.
Crypto valuation gains surged to KRW 26.5 billion from KRW 477 million the previous year, while valuation losses dropped sharply to KRW 388 million from KRW 12.1 billion. This boosted non-operating income and lifted overall profitability.
The gains were largely linked to price fluctuations in cryptocurrencies borrowed from Binance following the unresolved “GoFi” withdrawal issue. Gopax has yet to fully return customer assets tied up in its deposit service since the fallout from the FTX collapse in late 2022.
As crypto prices declined, the value of liabilities denominated in borrowed digital assets decreased, effectively generating accounting gains. In 2024, Gopax recorded KRW 41.7 billion in valuation losses on such borrowings, but last year saw a reversal, with KRW 10.07 billion in valuation gains from the same source.
The company also adjusted its crypto portfolio, selling part of its Bitcoin holdings and increasing its position in Tether, a dollar-pegged stablecoin less sensitive to market volatility.
Despite the accounting turnaround, the results highlight ongoing challenges in Gopax’s core exchange operations, with profitability still heavily dependent on external market factors rather than underlying business performance.
AlphaBIZ Paul Lee(hoondork1977@alphabiz.co.kr)
