Balan burned ₩300B on luxury e-commerce — settlement Ponzi collapsed in 2026

Balan was founded in 2015 as a first-generation luxury e-commerce platform in South Korea. It rode the COVID-era luxury boom to a peak transaction volume of ₩6.8 trillion in 2022 and a valuation of ₩300 billion. But the growth was financed by deferring payments to its 1,200 merchants — using new sellers' settlement money to cover old sellers, a structure critics compared to a Ponzi scheme.

When post-pandemic luxury demand cooled and competition from larger platforms intensified, Balan's cash flow seized. It had spent heavily on celebrity endorsements (actress Kim Hye-soo) and brand marketing while running negative margins. By 2023 its liabilities had ballooned to ₩392 billion against just ₩77 billion in capital, putting the company in capital impairment.

Balan filed for corporate rehabilitation in March 2025. Its largest creditor Silicon 2 held over 55% of claims and rejected the plan with only 35% approval. The Seoul Rehabilitation Court declared Balan bankrupt on February 24, 2026. Its liquidation value was estimated at just ₩2 billion — less than 1% of its peak valuation.