Another airstrike on the cryptocurrency market? Nearly 40 cryptocurrency exchanges in South Korea will be shut down

South Korea’s more than 60 cryptocurrency exchanges must notify customers of partial or full trading suspensions by midnight Friday, a week before a new regulation takes effect.

This week, the South Korean government stipulated that if cryptocurrency exchanges want to continue operating, they must register with the Korea Financial Intelligence Analysis Service as a legal platform and obtain a security certificate issued by the cybersecurity agency before September 24 (next Friday). They must also cooperate with local banks in South Korea to ensure that users' accounts are implemented under the real-name system.

Starting September 24, unregistered cryptocurrency exchanges will shut down their services, and registered exchanges that do not have a partnership with a bank will be banned from trading in Korean won.

South Korea's Financial Services Commission said earlier this week: "If some or all services need to be closed, (cryptocurrency exchanges) should notify customers of the expected closure date and withdrawal procedures at least seven days before the closure." This means that cryptocurrency exchanges must complete the notification matters before midnight this Friday.

Of the dozens of cryptocurrency exchanges in South Korea, only four companies - Upbit, Bithumb, Coinone and Korbit - have registered and obtained banking partnerships. Of the remaining cryptocurrency exchanges, nearly 40 have failed to register successfully and will have to terminate all services. Another 28 banks have registered and obtained security certificates, but have not yet obtained banking cooperation.

Some smaller crypto exchanges, including ProBit, Cashierest and Flybit, have said they will end won trading and will continue to deal only in digital tokens until they can establish partnerships with banks.