Binance Halts KRW Trading Pairs as Korea Tightens Crypto Regulations

Amid major changes to crypto trade operations in Korea, leading exchange Binance has halted Korean won (KRW) trading pairs.

The largest crypto exchange issued a notice on Friday, which announced the discontinuation of KRW trading pairs. Along with that, it will also discontinue KRW payments options on its service. Korean language support on its website and merchant applications for peer-to-peer transactions (P2P) in South Korea will also be disabled.

Binance also advised P2P traders to remove all trade advertisements denominated in KRW from the platform. To specify, the exchange stated that it was proactively complying with local regulations.

Since early this year, South Korean authorities have been tightening rules and restrictions for crypto exchange operators within the country. Starting with compulsory licensing, they’ve gone all the way to required real-name trading accounts. Regulators in South Korea have also further taken the scope of the policy to include foreign platforms operating in the country.

September 24 is the last date for crypto exchanges to register with South Korean regulators or shut down operations. The stated penalty for failure to comply is hefty fines and jail time for principal members of the exchanges. With this in mind, many exchanges have already announced plans to shut down their branches, at least for now, before the deadline.

What this means for Binance is unclear however, it will count as another blow in a series of disruptions to the exchange’s operations globally. Within just the last few months, Binance has received warnings from regulators in major crypto-centric countries stating that the exchange was operating without due authorization.