- South Korea tightens the crypto regulations; Google reacts, blocks 17 non-registered stock exchange apps and restricts the access of dealers.
- Bitcoin benefits from the new regulations and signals a relocation to compliance-controlled markets.
Google has blocked 17 non-registered crypto exchanges apps on the instructions of the South Korean Finance Exexplment FIU (Financial Intelligence Unit). This measure underlines South Korea’s strict attitude in the regulation of digital assets that aim to protect investors and contain criminal financial activities.
Popular platforms such as Kucoin, Mexc, Phemex and Bitmart are among the stock exchanges that are affected by the ban and will have to withhold their apps from the customer in the future.
Just in: Google has restricted access to 17 unregistered #Crypto exchanges in South Korea at the government’s request.
Users can no longer install or update apps for platforms like #KuCoin, #Mexc, #Phemexand others.#Coinpedia #CryptoNews #Blockchain #CryptoMarket
– COINPEDIA (@coinpediansews) March 26, 2025
Why the lock?
The South Korean Financial Service Service Commission (FSC) has found that these stock exchanges work without proper licenses and actively target Korean dealers. The authorities assessed the stock exchanges based on three factors: whether they had Korean -speaking websites, operated local marketing and whether they enable transactions in Korean.
Excesses that do not meet these compliance standards were classified as a violation of the South Korean financial laws, which led to their removal from Google Play.
Strict crypto regulations in South Korea
South Korea has some of the strictest cryptocurrency regulations worldwide. Every crypto exchange that works in the country must register with the FSC and implement measures for customer knowledge (KYC) and money laundering control (AML).
An important prerequisite is that the stock exchanges work with local banks to offer accounts with an authenticity test and thus ensure transparent financial transactions. Excesses that do not meet these requirements must expect hard punishments, including bans and legal steps.
Effects on South Korean dealers
For South Korean crypto retailers, this ban means a significant restriction of your access to global trading platforms. Many relied on foreign stock exchanges to gain access to a wider range of cryptocurrencies and trading pairs.
While some try to avoid these restrictions using VPNs, the government’s hard-to-go signals a zero tolerance policy towards non-registered stock exchanges.
As a result, more dealers could switch to domestic, regulated stock exchanges and redesign the South Korean crypto trade landscape.
Market reactions
South Korea’s regulatory measures could have other countries followed by a similar procedure for non -licensed stock exchanges.
In a related development – CNF reported – the Bank of Korea also rejected the idea of introducing Bitcoin as a currency reserve and justified this with too high volatility. Instead, financial experts push for a stable coin covered by the WON to give digital assets more stability.
In the middle of these regulatory changes, Bitcoin (BTC) is currently trading at $ 87,336, which, according to CoinmarketCap, means an increase of 1.79 % last week. This increase is a reaction of investors to increasing control by the regulatory authorities, which may lead to more activity on regulated platforms.
No Comments