South Korea's Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) announced on Tuesday that it will block domestic access to the websites of 27 unregistered offshore cryptocurrency exchange platforms. The affected platforms include KuCoin, MEXC, Phemex, BingX, BitMart, XT.com, Bitrue, CoinW and BTCC.

Under South Korea's regime, exchanges must complete FIU registration to serve users in the country, and the 27 platforms named have not done so. The Korea Communications Standards Commission (KCSC), the country's internet regulator, issued the formal decision after two rounds of deliberation held on October 6 and 7. Websites with servers or operators located inside South Korea will be shut down, while sites based overseas will be blocked from domestic access.

Beyond the website blocks, the FIU has referred 44 unregistered operators to investigators. Users who encounter difficulties withdrawing funds from the affected platforms can obtain guidance through the Digital Asset Exchange Alliance (DAXA), the self-regulatory body formed by South Korea's major exchanges.

Most of the Targeted Exchanges Have Been Under Scrutiny Since 2022

In August 2022, the FIU reported 16 foreign crypto exchanges to investigators and asked other agencies to block access to their websites. Those named included KuCoin, MEXC, Phemex, Bitrue, CoinW and Poloneix. Six more exchanges were targeted the following year, and regulatory pressure continued to build from there.

In May 2024, the FIU began restricting credit card purchases of crypto assets on unregistered platforms. By March 2025, 14 exchange apps had been removed from Apple's App Store and 17 from Google Play. In January 2026, Google Play changed its policy so that exchanges and wallets must be registered with the FIU to remain listed in South Korea.

Upbit and Bithumb Stand to Pick Up Trading Volume

The decision lands in one of the world's most active crypto trading markets. Around 27 domestic platforms are registered with the FIU, meaning South Korea has now blocked as many offshore exchanges as it has compliant ones operating in the country. Measured by trading volume and activity, most Korean crypto trading is concentrated on Upbit and Bithumb, and each access route the FIU closes for offshore platforms pushes more Korean traders back toward the two domestic leaders.

Offshore exchanges offer perpetual futures with high leverage, while registered Korean exchanges offer only spot trading. That distinction goes some way toward explaining why traders moved offshore in the first place. For the FIU, the block is being framed as a measure to protect investors and traders.

The FIU Expects Mirror Sites to Keep Appearing

The FIU anticipates that some operators will attempt to keep serving Korean users. It plans to track blocked exchanges that switch domains and resume operations, and will request new blocks whenever mirror sites appear.

VPNs are more difficult to address. Any Korean trader using a VPN can still reach all 27 sites in a few clicks, and nothing in this week's decision touches accounts that already exist on the platforms.

What the block does change is the effort required. With app store listings gone and card payments restricted, reaching an offshore exchange from Korea is now a deliberate step, and plenty of casual traders may opt for Upbit instead. The signals to watch from here are how quickly the FIU moves against new mirror-site domains and what comes of the 44 operators already referred to investigators.

Official announcements are available on the Financial Services Commission website at www.fsc.go.kr/no010101/87916 and fsc.go.kr/eng/pr010101/78319.