South Korea Cracks Down on Five Popular Cryptocurrency Exchanges: Plans for Sanctions and Access Blocking

South Korean financial authorities are preparing to impose sanctions on several cryptocurrency exchanges operating illegally within the country, according to economic newspaper Hankyung. The Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) has identified exchanges that are not registered as Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASPs) and are therefore thought to be in violation of local regulations. The targeted exchanges include BitMEX, KuCoin, CoinW, Bitunix, and KCEX, all of which were found to be operating Korean websites without the necessary approval from the FIU. These exchanges are considered illegal under South Korea’s strict crypto regulations because they do not report their activities to the FIU, which oversees compliance with the country’s financial laws. An official from the FIU said that authorities are currently reviewing options to block access to these unreported offshore exchanges that serve domestic investors, in consultation with the Korean Communications Standards Commission. Related News: Critical Hearing Date for Bitcoin and Altcoins Announced! Will Months-Awaited Approval Come? “We are organizing compensation cases and related data to strengthen communication between authorities and expect concrete measures to be taken within this year,” the FIU official said. The move follows a similar crackdown last month when South Korean exchange Upbit was banned from allowing new customers to transfer assets to its platform for three months due to non-compliance with regulatory requirements. *This is not investment advice. Continue Reading: South Korea Cracks Down on Five Popular Cryptocurrency Exchanges: Plans for Sanctions and Access Blocking