You Won’t Believe KuCoin’s Wild Plan to Win Back South Korea—Regulators in a Tizzy!

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It seems the great blizzard of bureaucracy has hit KuCoin square on the nose, old bean. Once the toast of the crypto world—practically swanning about in silk pyjamas and popping virtual champagne corks—KuCoin now finds itself cruelly ousted from the sunny shores of South Korea. 🚫🏄‍♂️

The curtain first fell on March 21, when South Korean regulators instructed Google Play to show the door to any exchanges not ticking all the right compliance boxes. Not to be outdone, the Financial Services Commission (in full “We Mean It!” mode) gave Apple Store a similar nudge on April 11, turning unregistered crypto exchanges into digital refugees—KuCoin very much included.

But don’t go digging KuCoin’s grave just yet. The platform may be out, but like a determined aunt that keeps RSVP’ing, it hasn’t given up on South Korea.

In a rare missive to CryptoMoon, BC Wong—freshly crowned CEO and possibly the only man to have solved a Rubik’s cube mid-Zoom—hinted at plans to slip back in, rather like a dinner party guest who pops out and returns through the window.

Regulators Clearing the Deck—Global Exchanges to the Lifeboats!

Wong confided that before hopping back into the Korean fray, KuCoin plans to go by the book in all the major jurisdictions—think United States, the EU, China, India, and (if there’s still any energy left) possibly Australia.

“The resource is there. We need to go one by one. Our strategy will always be that major jurisdictions come first, which means the United States, EU, China, India, and maybe after that, Australia.”

Wong did confirm talks with regulators had begun, and that running a crypto shop these days feels alarmingly like running an old-school bank—what with all the paperwork, background-checking, and the constant whiff of impending doom.

Regulators, he noted, have become distinctly more eagle-eyed than a trio of hawks at a field mice convention. Could the whole thing be a plot to nudge global players out and make way for plucky local exchanges? Wong isn’t ruling it out—but he’s too polite to say so directly.

“I’m not so sure if the regulators intend to regulate the global market or simply want to clear the decks for local heroes,” he mused, no doubt while twirling a metaphorical monocle. 🍸

EU’s Crypto Conundrum: Spot the Rule, Name the Exception

Meanwhile, enter stage left: Oliver Stauber, KuCoin’s EU CEO and erstwhile Bitpanda legal wizard. One suspects he keeps a law book on his bedside table for light reading. Stauber bemoaned that even with the EU’s shiny new Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (or MiCA, for those who like catchy acronyms), running an exchange is less “Swiss clockwork” and more “herding caffeinated cats.”

MiCA was supposed to be the golden ticket—one license to rule them all, or at least let you serve customers across the EU. But local regulators, ever the sticklers, sometimes allege these licenses were “wrongly assessed,” an accusation you can imagine is delivered with much frowning and the waving of stamped forms.

“MiCA was supposed to ensure a level playing field in Europe. But as long as some chaps prefer Monopoly rules to Chess Club rules, crypto will be a right old muddle,” Stauber lamented. 🎲

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2025-05-02 14:58