OKEx Korea to Shut Down on April 7th Amid Looming AML Regulations

Less than two years after launching, OKEx Korea has decided to shut down its services to South Korea-based customers. Although the company failed to explain why, the closure comes amid new regulations imposed by South Korea towards exchanges. 

• Earlier today, OKEx Korea published a termination notice informing that the cryptocurrency exchange will shut down its services to all users based in South Korea. 
• The statement reads that customers have until April 7th to close all their opened trading positions and withdraw their funds either in KRW or digital assets. 
• If they fail to do so, “OKEx Korea will not be held liable for any losses arising from failure to withdraw by the customers.” 
• It’s worth noting that the attempted withdrawal has to be above the minimum withdrawal amount and fee, otherwise it won’t go through. 
• OKEx Korea didn’t provide a reason behind its decision. CryptoPotato reached out to OKEx for comments and a company representative said that OKEx is a separate entity from OKEx Korea.
• However, keeping in mind the most recent reports on crypto regulations in South Korea, it’s safe to assume that the new legislation could have influenced the termination. 
• As reported earlier this month, the country’s financial regulator, the Financial Services Commission (FSC), proposed a new initiative that will affect all virtual asset services providers (VASPs) starting on March 25th.  
• Upon its introduction, the new legislation plans hefty penalty standards and possible fines if the exchanges violate any of the following three procedures. Failure to report suspicious transaction activities, failure to keep relevant data on such transactions, and failure to keep separate management of customers’ transaction records. 
• Prior to the aforementioned closure, Binance Korea also shut down in late December after being live for just several months.