South Korea has ordered domestic access blocks on 27 unregistered crypto exchange websites, including KuCoin, MEXC, Phemex, BingX and BitMart. The Financial Intelligence Unit disclosed the order on October 13. The FIU urged users to withdraw assets immediately but acknowledged that the blocks may restrict withdrawals. A KuCoin spokesperson said user assets remain safe and secure. Tiger Research and Chainalysis estimate that about 700 trillion won moved from Korean exchanges to overseas exchanges from 2021 to 2026, including a projection for this year. Whether traders on blocked platforms return to domestic exchanges or move on-chain remains an open question.
