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South Korea FIU moves to block 27 unregistered crypto exchanges, naming KuCoin, BitMart, MEXC

The FIU's October 13 action targets 27 overseas-operated sites and refers 44 unregistered operators to investigators. Blocks approved October 6 and 7 by the Korea Communications Standards Commission.

by 4 min read
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South Korea's Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) announced on Tuesday, October 13, that it is moving to block 27 overseas-operated crypto-exchange websites from access inside the country for operating without the FIU registration that virtual asset service providers (VASPs) are required to hold. The action was reviewed and approved by the Korea Communications Standards Commission on October 6 and 7, per CoinDesk. Journal du Coin's parallel reporting names a longer slice of the list, including BitMart, KuCoin and MEXC. Domestically operated unregistered services face full service termination rather than a block.

What the FIU announced

  • Scope: 27 overseas-operated sites to be blocked from Korean access; domestically operated unregistered sites face service termination.
  • Named in reporting: KuCoin, BitMart, MEXC, Phemex, Bitrue, CoinW, BTCC, BingX, DigiFinex. The full 27-exchange list is not public; the ones above come from the two outlets' coverage.
  • Registrations: 28 VASPs are currently registered with the FIU. 44 unregistered operators have been referred to investigators.
  • Trigger threshold: Regulators can now seek a website block as soon as they identify unregistered activity targeting Korean customers — without a court ruling or evidence of customer losses, per CoinDesk.
  • Jurisdictional test for "targeting Korean customers" per Journal du Coin: a Korean-language site, marketing aimed at residents, or support for won-denominated payments.

Operating without FIU registration carries criminal penalties of up to five years in prison and up to 50 million won (~€34,000 / ~$37,900) in fines under existing Korean law, per Journal du Coin's reading.

Why this moves the needle

Korea's prior crackdowns operated at the app-store layer. Google Play and Apple's App Store removed 17 and 14 unregistered-exchange apps respectively in prior rounds. The October 13 action moves one layer down, to domain-level blocking, which hits browser access as well as installed-app updates and new installs. CoinDesk cites about $110 billion that left domestic Korean exchanges in 2025, which is the capital flow the FIU is targeting at its new access point.

Two operational specifics:

  • Replacement-domain blocking: If a blocked exchange reopens under a new address, the FIU plans to block the new domain in turn, per Journal du Coin.
  • Withdrawal cooperation: The FIU has acknowledged that blocks can hamper user access to funds and said it will work with the Digital Asset eXchange Alliance (DAXA) to help affected users withdraw. Journal du Coin notes this is not a guarantee of immediate recovery.

Impact and counterparty exposure

For KuCoin, MEXC, BitMart, Phemex and the rest: Korean deposit and spot volume on the exchange's international venue is now at operational risk. Korean users who still have balances will see access via the Korean internet closed as the blocks roll in; the practical fallback is withdrawal via international IP, which breaks for many users on domestic KYC checks or Korean-ID-tied withdrawal routines.

For the Korean on-ramp side: the five FIU-registered local exchanges — Upbit, Bithumb, Coinone, Korbit, GOPAX — are the only remaining fully compliant venues after the blocks land. International P2P and OTC flows will absorb displaced volume unless the FIU extends enforcement there.

KuCoin had said in prior Korean rounds that it will "stick with our commitment to compliance." BitMart and MEXC did not respond to CoinDesk's request for comment. Phemex has not responded.

What to watch

  1. The 27-exchange list. The FIU has not published the full roster; a Freedom-of-Information or ex-ante inspection document is the primary that reporters will push for. Nine names are public via the two outlets covering this; the remaining 18 are the operational unknown.
  2. DAXA's withdrawal mechanism. DAXA cooperation turns on exchange-side participation. Any public DAXA-exchange agreement would materially change the user-recovery picture. No such agreement is announced yet.
  3. A VASP registration filing by a named exchange. Any of the 27 could file for FIU registration — the ISMS certification is the gating prerequisite — but no filing is publicly in-process at the named exchanges.
  4. A domain-rotation cycle. If one of the blocked exchanges reopens under a Korean-targeted mirror, the next FIU block will test the speed of the replacement-domain procedure.

Context — pattern

This is Korea's third enforcement tier of 2025–2026 against unregistered foreign exchanges after Google Play (17 app removals), Apple App Store (14 app removals), and now 27 domain blocks. The incremental scope — app distribution → operating-system access → network access — is the pattern. Each step increases the compliance cost of serving Korean customers from outside the FIU regime, and each step hits a different operational layer: distribution, installation, and now connection.

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