Nearly three in five overseas crypto exchanges are now unavailable on South Korea’s Google Play Store, data shows.
At least 29 overseas crypto exchange apps can no longer be installed through Google Play in South Korea, including OKX, Bybit, MEXC, KuCoin, Gemini, Backpack and BitMEX.
Digital Asset, a South Korean crypto news outlet, checked the Google Play availability of the top 50 overseas derivatives exchanges ranked by CoinMarketCap.
Read also: Korean Crypto Trading Collapses 97% as Stocks Pull Money Away
According to a translated version of the Korean report, 29 were unavailable for new installation on Android phones. Seventeen didn’t appear in search results at all, while six displayed a general unavailable message and another six said the app wasn’t available in the user’s region.
Other affected platforms included BingX, Phemex, WhiteBIT, CoinEx, BitMart, Pionex, BTSE and WEEX. Binance, however, wasn’t among the 29 exchanges listed in the report, suggesting Google’s rollout remains uneven, per the report.
Google Goes Beyond Regulator’s List
South Korea’s Financial Intelligence Unit, the country’s anti-money-laundering agency, previously asked Google to block 17 overseas exchanges it accused of operating locally without registration.
But Google later introduced a broader rule of its own. Under its current policy, crypto exchanges targeting South Korea must have successfully filed as virtual asset service providers with the FIU. Platforms without the required registration must remove South Korea from their target markets.
Bybit disappeared from the Korean Google Play Store on July 10, while OKX became unavailable on July 24.
The restriction only blocks new installations through Google Play. It doesn’t automatically stop existing apps from working, block exchange websites or remove the apps from Apple’s App Store.
Read more: OKX, Korea Investment Put $50M in Korean Crypto Exchange Coinone
