South Korea Blocks Access to KuCoin, MEXC, BingX and 24 Other Exchanges

A Big Crackdown on Unregistered Exchanges

South Korea just made a major move against offshore crypto platforms. The country's Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) announced that its communications review authority has ordered domestic access restrictions on 27 overseas crypto exchanges that aren't registered to operate in the country.

The list of blocked platforms includes some big names: KuCoin, MEXC, BingX, Phemex, Poloniex, BTCC, and Bitmart. Users inside South Korea trying to reach these exchanges' websites will now run into the block. This isn't the first step taken against these platforms either, regulators had already forced the removal of their mobile apps from local app stores before moving on to the websites themselves.

Part of a Bigger Pattern

South Korea has been tightening its grip on crypto exchanges that operate without local registration for a while now, and this latest round of blocks shows regulators aren't slowing down. For now, anyone in South Korea wanting to use these exchanges will need to look for workarounds, though that obviously comes with its own risks.