South Korea Moves to Block 27 Crypto Websites, Including KuCoin and MEXC

Published October 13, 2026, 1:45 PM PKT. Based on South Korea's Financial Intelligence Unit announcement on October 13, 2026 and reporting by Cointelegraph, cryptonews.net, CoinCentral and TradersUnion.

South Korea's Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) announced on Tuesday that authorities have approved measures to block domestic access to 27 websites operated by unregistered crypto exchanges and other virtual asset service providers, including KuCoin, MEXC, Phemex and Bitrue. The decision followed reviews by the Korea Communications Standards Commission (KCSC) on October 6 and 7, and extends South Korea's enforcement campaign against unlicensed platforms from mobile apps to the open web.

The 27-site block list

The FIU's list names some of the largest offshore exchanges serving crypto traders. Alongside KuCoin, MEXC, Phemex and Bitrue, the named platforms include CoinW, BTCC, BitMart, BingX, DigiFinex, XT.com and Poloniex, Cointelegraph and cryptonews.net reported. The block targets platforms that have not registered under South Korea's Act on Reporting and Using Specified Financial Transaction Information, the country's anti-money laundering legislation.

The measures take two forms depending on where a site is hosted, the FIU said: services hosted domestically will be terminated, while access to websites operated overseas will be blocked from South Korean networks. TradingView's rebroadcast of the Cointelegraph report and CoinCentral confirmed the same structure, with domestic servers facing shutdown orders and foreign-hosted sites facing network-level blocks.

From app bans to website blocks

The website action is the second stage of an enforcement sequence that began with mobile apps. In April 2025, South Korea blocked downloads and updates for 14 unregistered crypto exchange apps on Apple's App Store, followed by restrictions on 17 apps through Google Play, Cointelegraph reported. In January 2026, Google Play changed its policy so exchanges and wallets must be registered with the FIU to stay listed in South Korea, cryptonews.net reported.

The pressure campaign goes back further. In August 2022, the FIU reported 16 foreign crypto exchanges to investigators and asked other agencies to block access to their websites, with KuCoin, MEXC, Phemex, Bitrue, CoinW and Poloniex already on that earlier list. In May 2024, the FIU began restricting the purchase of crypto assets with credit cards on unregistered platforms. The October 2026 decision brings the website channel in line with the app restrictions already in place.

How the FIU decides who targets Korea

The FIU said authorities assess whether an overseas operator is effectively targeting South Korean customers by looking at whether platforms offer Korean-language services, market to South Korean users, or support transactions in Korean won, Cointelegraph reported. Platforms meeting those tests but operating without FIU registration fall under the Act's blocking measures.

The unit's approach treats the absence of a domestic registration as the trigger, regardless of where a platform is incorporated. CoinCentral reported that regulators also plan to monitor for new domains created to evade the blocks and will request further restrictions as they appear.

Withdrawal help through DAXA

The FIU acknowledged that the website blocks could complicate withdrawals for existing users holding funds on the affected platforms. The unit said it plans to provide withdrawal guidance and support through the Digital Asset eXchange Alliance (DAXA), the self-regulatory body formed by Korea's major licensed exchanges, with cooperation from the blocked operators themselves, Cointelegraph reported.

That coordination matters because the blocks arrive while users still have balances on the platforms. TradersUnion reported the FIU's acknowledgment that access restrictions could leave existing local users struggling to withdraw, and that DAXA would be the channel for withdrawal support.

44 operators referred to investigators

Beyond the website blocks, the FIU has referred 44 unregistered operators to investigators, CoinCentral and cryptonews.net reported, signaling that the enforcement push extends past access restrictions into active cases. The referral list covers operators serving Korean users without anti-money laundering registration, applying to both overseas-operated and domestically hosted websites.

The crackdown lands as South Korea continues to tighten crypto oversight on multiple fronts. The FIU's latest action makes clear that unregistered offshore exchanges, even the industry's biggest names, should not expect to keep reaching Korean users through the web simply because app store routes were closed.

This article is news reporting and is not investment advice.

Sources

• South Korea's Financial Intelligence Unit, official announcement published via the Financial Services Commission (fsc.go.kr), October 13, 2026, primary source for the blocking decision, the October 6-7 KCSC reviews, the anti-money laundering registration requirement, and the pledge of withdrawal guidance through DAXA
• Cointelegraph, South Korea Moves to Block 27 Crypto Exchange Sites (Oct. 13, 2026), secondary source for the 27-site list, the KCSC review dates, the domestic-termination/overseas-blocking structure, the targeting criteria, and the April 2025 app blocks
• cryptonews.net, South Korea's FIU Blocks 27 Unregistered Crypto Exchange Websites (Oct. 13, 2026), secondary source for the KCSC's two rounds of deliberations, the 44 operator referrals, and the enforcement timeline from August 2022 through the January 2026 Google Play policy change
• CoinCentral, Why South Korea Is Blocking Offshore Crypto Exchanges Like KuCoin and MEXC (Oct. 13, 2026), secondary source for the Wu Blockchain report of the decision, the domestic shutdown orders, and the plan to watch for new evasion domains
• TradersUnion, South Korea expands crypto crackdown with 27 exchange websites blocked (Oct. 13, 2026), secondary source for the extension of enforcement from apps to websites and the withdrawal-difficulty acknowledgment