27 overseas crypto exchanges are now blocked from South Korean web browsers, including KuCoin, BitMart and MEXC. The Financial Intelligence Unit announced the measure on 13 October, CoinDesk reported, after the Korea Communications Standards Commission reviewed the list on 6 and 7 October.
The blocks extend a campaign that began with mobile apps. Google Play dropped 17 unregistered exchanges in March 2025, and Apple followed in April. Websites were the obvious gap, and this closes it.
What has changed is the threshold. Regulators say they will now seek a block as soon as they detect unregistered activity, without waiting for a court ruling or evidence of customer losses. Overseas sites are blocked from domestic access, while any platform operating from inside Korea faces termination of service.
The FIU presented the move as user protection, citing theft, fraud and data leaks on platforms that have not registered or met anti-money-laundering rules. A KuCoin spokesperson said the exchange respects the laws of every jurisdiction it operates in and that user assets remain safe.
Blocking a website is easy to dodge, and the regulator knows it. The FIU says it will watch for operators that reopen under new addresses and seek further blocks on those. It will also work with the exchange alliance DAXA to help customers withdraw funds where access is cut.
The unanswered questions are practical. Nobody has said how long the blocks last, whether a registration deadline is coming, or how many Korean users were trading on these 27 sites. Without that last number, it is impossible to judge whether this is a nuisance or a shock.
