# South Korea announces website blocks for 27 unregistered crypto operators

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Published: 2026-10-13T12:45:20.522Z
Publisher: Chain Minute

An October 13 FIU notice announces website restrictions approved on October 6–7. The list includes KuCoin, MEXC and BitMart, extending earlier mobile-app access controls.

South Korea’s Financial Intelligence Unit said on October 13 that domestic access restrictions had been approved for 27 websites operated by unregistered virtual-asset businesses. The list includes KuCoin, MEXC, Phemex and BitMart. The announcement extends earlier mobile-app restrictions to another route for accessing these services.

### The decision predates the announcement

The [official FIU notice](https://www.fsc.go.kr/no010101/87916) says the country’s communications standards body approved the measures after two reviews on October 6 and 7. October 13 is the announcement date, rather than the date of those decisions.

The measures distinguish between termination of services operated domestically and domestic access blocking for overseas services. They concern access from South Korea; the notice does not announce a worldwide shutdown of the named exchanges.

The FIU’s [attached list](https://www.fsc.go.kr/comm/getFile?srvcId=BBSTY1&upperNo=87916&fileTy=ATTACH&fileNo=2) identifies the 27 affected businesses. That list is separate from the filing’s cumulative list of 44 operators previously referred to investigators, so the two counts describe different stages of enforcement.

### Websites follow app-store restrictions

According to the notice, earlier measures prevented new domestic installations and updates of unregistered operators’ mobile apps through Google and Apple. Website restrictions expand the access controls beyond those app-store channels. [CoinDesk’s October 13 report](https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2026/10/13/south-korea-blocks-27-crypto-exchanges-including-bitmart-and-kucoin) independently reports the new measures and affected exchanges.

The FIU says it will continue monitoring replacement addresses and requesting additional reviews when operators change their websites. It also describes a process for seeking restrictions once unregistered business activity is identified, without waiting for a separate customer-loss report.

The notice does not give a single implementation hour or a duration for the restrictions. It establishes the approved scope and continuing enforcement process, rather than confirming that every domestic network applied a block at the same moment.

## Sources

- [FIU announces domestic access restrictions for unregistered virtual-asset websites](https://www.fsc.go.kr/no010101/87916) — Financial Services Commission / Korea FIU
- [FIU October 13 press release and appendices: 27 website restrictions](https://www.fsc.go.kr/comm/getFile?srvcId=BBSTY1&upperNo=87916&fileTy=ATTACH&fileNo=2) — Financial Services Commission / Korea FIU
- [South Korea blocks 27 crypto exchanges, including Bitmart and Kucoin](https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2026/10/13/south-korea-blocks-27-crypto-exchanges-including-bitmart-and-kucoin) — CoinDesk

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