FIU Blocks Access to Unregistered Foreign Virtual Asset Exchange Apps

Minseung Kang

Summary

FIU announced that it has blocked 14 apps of unregistered foreign virtual asset exchanges.
This measure is in accordance with the Special Act, which requires reporting to the FIU if there are domestic business activities such as providing Korean services.
It was reported that since last month, Google Korea has also been blocking access to these exchanges.

The Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) under the Financial Services Commission announced that it has blocked 14 unregistered foreign Virtual Asset Service Provider (VASP) apps, including KuCoin and MEXC, registered on the Apple App Store. Previously, Google Korea has also been blocking access to these exchanges since the 25th of last month.

According to the industry on the 14th, the Financial Services Commission stated that Apple blocked domestic access to 14 foreign VASP apps, including KuCoin and MEXC, which were operating unregistered services targeting Koreans, at the request of the FIU since the 11th. The foreign VASP apps blocked this time are KuCoin, MEXC, Phemex, Bitrue, CoinW, CoinEX, ZoomEX, Poloniex, BTCC, Blofin, CoinCatch, DOEX, WEEX, and BitMart.

According to the Act on Reporting and Using Specified Financial Transaction Information (Special Act), foreign virtual asset exchanges must report to the FIU and obtain a virtual asset service provider license if they conduct domestic business activities such as providing a Korean website, marketing events to attract Korean customers, or supporting won payments.