South Korea Cracks Down On 17 Crypto Exchanges

South Korea regulators have requested Google to block access to 17 crypto exchanges. Affected exchanges include Kucoin, MEXC, Phemex, Coinex, Poloneix and more.

“The Financial Intelligence Unit ( FIU) has identified overseas unreported businesses ( 16 companies in 2022, 6 companies in 2023) and is providing guidance to reporting businesses to refrain from doing business with unreported businesses (Article 10-20 of the Act),” announced South Korea’s FIU.

The statement reveals South Korean crypto users are barred from downloading these apps, and existing users will not receive updates.

South Korea requests Google to block access to 17 unregistered crypto exchanges.
Affected platforms include Kucoin, Mexc, Phemex, Coinex, Poloniex, and more. Users can no longer install or update apps from these exchanges in South Korea. pic.twitter.com/5zMk8wwQOs
— CryptoPotato Official (@Crypto_Potato) March 26, 2025

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A few days ago, FIU initiated enforcement action against several cryptocurrency exchanges, including KuCoin and BitMex, for operating in the country without registering as a Virtual Asset Services Provider (VASPs) under South Korea’s Specific Financial Information Act.

According to local media reports published on 21 March 2025, the South Korean authorities are considering sanctions such as blocking access to all crypto exchanges not registered as VASPs, in collaboration with the Korea Communication Standards Commission (KCSC).

Other crypto exchanges accused of violating South Korean anti-money laundering (AML) and financial regulations include CoinW, Bitunix, and KCEX. Authorities have accused all exchanges listed here of operating without necessary approvals and adherence to the country’s compliance processes by offering marketing and customer support to South Korean investors.

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Meanwhile, Crypto Sees Over 50% Growth In South Korea

According to recent local media reports, the number of domestic investors who own virtual currencies such as Bitcoin increased by more than 50% last year from a year ago, exceeding 9.6 million.

Interestingly, one in four virtual currency investors is over 50 years old. Among the “big investors” who own more than 1 billion won in virtual currencies, one in two is over 50 years old.

“According to data received by Ahn Do-jae, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, from five domestic virtual currency exchanges, including Upbit, Bithumb, Coinone, Korbit, and Gopax, on the 21st, there were 9,667,023 investors who had trading accounts on these exchanges at the end of last year (Korbit as of the end of September),” the report said. “Compared with a year ago, it increased by 52.6%. The amount of virtual currencies owned by these people was 105.0107 trillion won, exceeding 100 trillion won.”

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Key Takeaways

South Korean regulators have requested Google to block access to 17 crypto exchanges..

Affected exchanges include Kucoin, MEXC, Phemex, Coinex, Poloneix and more.

Meanwhile, the number of domestic investors who own virtual currencies such as Bitcoin in South Korea increased by more than 50% last year from a year ago, exceeding 9.6 million.