South Korea's Financial Intelligence Unit has ordered a domestic access ban on 27 websites run by unregistered overseas crypto exchanges, naming KuCoin, MEXC, Phemex, BingX and BitMart among the platforms hit. The order pushes enforcement past the app stores and onto the open web for the first time. The FIU's own warning is blunt: users on those platforms could struggle to reach their funds or make withdrawals.
From app stores to browsers
The agency doesn't need a court ruling or proof of user losses to move. Its stated process is to detect unregistered activity, seek a block, and let the communications review body sign off. That approval came after reviews held on October 6 and 7.
This is a longer campaign, not a one-off. In March 2025, the FIU asked Google and Apple to restrict new installs and updates for unregistered exchange apps, and Google Play pulled 17 platforms including KuCoin and MEXC. The website ban extends the same logic to browsers.
How does the FIU decide an exchange is operating locally? Korean-language sites, marketing aimed at Korean users, and support for won payments are the giveaways.
What happens to users' money
The FIU told customers holding assets on the affected platforms to withdraw immediately. It also acknowledged the obvious catch: if access is blocked, withdrawing gets harder, not easier.
Replacement domains are on the agency's radar. The FIU says it will pursue blocks against sites that relaunch under new addresses. Operating without registration in South Korea carries up to five years in prison or a fine of up to 50 million won.
The fee gap behind the crackdown
Enforcement isn't the only pressure point. A June probe by the Digital Asset eXchange Alliance and registered operators found that flagged exchanges charged average fees of 1.5% to 10%, against roughly 0.16% at South Korea's five largest won-based exchanges. Tiger Research estimated Korean investors paid foreign exchanges $3.5 billion in fees during 2025.
The scale of the outflow is bigger still. Tiger Research and Chainalysis put roughly 700 trillion won moving from Korea to overseas exchanges between 2021 and 2026 — a figure that includes a projection for 2026 and counts only traceable routes.
Other moving parts in Seoul
Digital-asset policy here is shifting on several tracks at once. Regulators are reviewing Ripple's Korea partnership with Meritz, and a domestic debate over crypto collateral is running alongside the exchange crackdown. The FIU says it will guide affected users through DAXA, the industry group involved in the response.
The immediate question is whether the blocked platforms attempt a relaunch under fresh domains — and how fast the FIU can chase them.
