KuCoin Eyes South Korea Comeback After Regulatory Block
By: financefeeds|2025/05/02 19:45:01
0
Share
Cryptocurrency exchange KuCoin is considering a return to the South Korean market after local regulators forced its exit earlier this year, the company’s CEO confirmed in a recent interview. In March and April, South Korea’s Financial Services Commission ordered Google and Apple to block access to crypto platforms that had not registered with the government, effectively cutting off services like KuCoin . The move was part of a broader clampdown on unlicensed digital asset exchanges. Although the platform is currently unavailable in South Korea, KuCoin’s new CEO, BC Wong, says the exchange hasn’t given up on the region. Speaking at the Token2049 event in Dubai, Wong said KuCoin plans to reenter South Korea—but only after securing compliance in several major markets, including the U.S., EU, China, and India. Wong said KuCoin has already started talks with regulators and likened the process to traditional finance, where having a clean record in each jurisdiction is essential. He also argued about the motives behind some local regulations, suggesting that South Korean authorities may be trying to push foreign players out in favor of domestic exchanges. In Europe, KuCoin’s EU CEO Oliver Stauber highlighted other hurdles. While the EU’s new MiCA framework is meant to create a unified rulebook, Stauber said national regulators sometimes apply different interpretations of the same rules, slowing down operations even for licensed firms. “MiCA promises consistency, but reality on the ground doesn’t always reflect that,” Stauber said, adding that some countries still question previously granted licenses. The FIU said it was reviewing potential sanctions against foreign crypto operators that failed to report to authorities under South Korea’s Specified Financial Information Act. The law requires all virtual asset service providers (VASPs) to register with local regulators before serving Korean users. By March 26, the Financial Services Commission (FSC) released a list of 22 unregistered exchanges, confirming that 17 of them had already been blocked from Google’s app store. This restriction prevents new downloads and app updates, cutting off key access points for South Korean users. The blocked exchanges include major platforms such as KuCoin, MEXC, Phemex, XT.com, CoinEx, BitMart, DigiFinex, Poloniex, and Pionex, among others.
You may also like
The cryptocurrency industry has become a traditional industry
For entrepreneurs and retail investors still in this industry, they should either embrace the current changes or explore the next unpredictable field in cryptocurrency.
Chip frenzy cooling down? Morgan Stanley's Wilson: Funds are shifting towards AI supercomputing giants like Microsoft and Amazon
Morgan Stanley's chief equity strategist Wilson pointed out that the momentum in the semiconductor sector is waning, with the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index having dropped nearly 14% from its peak. Funds are shifting towards AI supercomputing giants like Microsoft, Amazon, and Meta, as well as sec...
Morning Report | Vitalik outlines Ethereum's long-term roadmap, Lean Ethereum will become the third major iteration; SK Hynix seeks to attract more AI investors by listing in the U.S
July 5 Market Important Events Overview
Trump, the best stock trader among U.S. presidents
Trump has almost turned the presidency into a business and maximized the conversion of presidential influence into commercial profits.
From ByteDance to Financial Freedom: How did "Byte Brother" Leto develop his investment judgment skills to achieve a turnaround of 30 million?
Speak with data and signals, validate judgments with A/B tests, and seek asymmetric returns with limited risk exposure.
Selling coins despite a loss of 55 million dollars, the faith in Strategy has reached the interest payment date
The moment faith was securitized, Bitcoin became a bill.
OUSD False Cooperation Controversy? The Credit Game of Stablecoins and Endorsements by Giants
The success of stablecoins does not rely on rallying a group of alliance members for marketing, but rather on whether they have real use cases and genuine users.
Q-Day Countdown: Will Quantum Computing End Cryptocurrency?
In the face of dormant coins being plundered by quantum computing power, should we firmly uphold the unalterable bottom line of "code is law," or should we enforce a soft fork to freeze legacy assets?
The ten years of Cloud on the Air: From corner coffee to global financial infrastructure
How did a remittance company grow into a financial infrastructure that can replace SWIFT; when it really reaches this scale, how should stablecoins be positioned for it; and what can AI integrate into this infrastructure?
$10,000 in TRUMP Token vs. $10,000 in Nasdaq: The "Trump Trade" That Actually Worked in 2026
TRUMP Token lost more than 96% after its launch, while Nasdaq stocks and NVIDIA delivered strong gains. Compare what happened to a $10,000 investment and explore why asset fundamentals matter more than market hype.
The impact of OUSD on Circle, Tether, and Paxos: not a single negative factor, but a more complex reshaping of competition
OUSD will not be the last new competitor; Circle needs to respond more actively in terms of products, distribution, and ecosystem collaboration.
Li Feifei's latest long article: When video generation, robots, and NVIDIA all claim to be world models, we need a taxonomy
Language gives machines a way to talk about the world. The world model is the means by which machines ultimately understand, imagine, reason, and interact with it.
Blaming the desolation of the cryptocurrency world on the rise of AI is a form of intellectual laziness
The emergence of giants signifies a mature business model. Although it will reduce speculative space, there is also enough room for error, allowing for the continuous emergence of new forces.
Strategy Founder: The Next 10 Years of Bitcoin
In the next decade, the biggest evolution of Bitcoin is precisely "responding to change with invariance." The four-year cycle is giving way to capital flows such as ETFs, corporate and sovereign reserves, and bank credit, while digital credit and digital currency will grow layer upon layer on top of...
Forbes Special Report: Stablecoin cross-border payments are faster now, but not cheaper yet
Cross-border payments using stablecoins are rapidly expanding, bringing speed and accessibility, but due to insufficient institutional liquidity, they have not yet delivered on their promised cost savings. The technology has been validated, and regulations are improving, but the industry has not yet...
A valuation of 8 billion dollars, doubling in 8 months! What makes the crypto-friendly bank Erebor Bank stand out?
Erebor is a high-profile experiment taking place at the intersection of banking, cryptocurrency, and industrial policy.
340 billion valuation: Li Yanhong's largest IPO, a seat in Kunlunxin's shares is hard to come by
As a core asset in Baidu's AI landscape, Kunlun Chip is expected to exceed Baidu's market value after going public, becoming an important bargaining chip in its turnaround battle.
Stablecoins are the "royalists" of the crypto world: Open USD brings the old currency system into play
The emergence of Open USD has shifted the competition for stablecoins from the market struggle of crypto startups to a battle for infrastructure involving traditional finance, payment networks, technology platforms, and public chain ecosystems.
The cryptocurrency industry has become a traditional industry
For entrepreneurs and retail investors still in this industry, they should either embrace the current changes or explore the next unpredictable field in cryptocurrency.
Chip frenzy cooling down? Morgan Stanley's Wilson: Funds are shifting towards AI supercomputing giants like Microsoft and Amazon
Morgan Stanley's chief equity strategist Wilson pointed out that the momentum in the semiconductor sector is waning, with the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index having dropped nearly 14% from its peak. Funds are shifting towards AI supercomputing giants like Microsoft, Amazon, and Meta, as well as sec...
Morning Report | Vitalik outlines Ethereum's long-term roadmap, Lean Ethereum will become the third major iteration; SK Hynix seeks to attract more AI investors by listing in the U.S
July 5 Market Important Events Overview
Trump, the best stock trader among U.S. presidents
Trump has almost turned the presidency into a business and maximized the conversion of presidential influence into commercial profits.
From ByteDance to Financial Freedom: How did "Byte Brother" Leto develop his investment judgment skills to achieve a turnaround of 30 million?
Speak with data and signals, validate judgments with A/B tests, and seek asymmetric returns with limited risk exposure.
Selling coins despite a loss of 55 million dollars, the faith in Strategy has reached the interest payment date
The moment faith was securitized, Bitcoin became a bill.
Customer Support:@weikecs
Business Cooperation:@weikecs
Quant Trading & MM:bd@weex.com
VIP Program:support@weex.com
