Researcher
Starting Jan. 28th, major global CEXs will no longer be supported on Google Play Store in South Korea. Google recently updated its policy for crypto exchanges and software wallets, which now includes a provision requiring only exchanges that have obtained licenses in their respective regions to offer apps. As a result, except for very few exchanges that have acquired Korean VASP registration, such as Binance, both new installations and updates for existing users will be blocked.
Of course, Google's measure does not completely block access to overseas exchanges. Access through web browsers remains possible, and for Android users, sideloading by directly downloading APK files is technically feasible. However, each of these workarounds carries critical limitations.
Trading via web browser is significantly less convenient compared to mobile apps, which are optimized for on-the-go transactions. This decline in convenience leads to reduced trading frequency, and ultimately, to users abandoning the platform altogether.
Downloading APKs is far too risky from a security standpoint. Installing apps outside of official app markets becomes a breeding ground for malware and phishing attacks. Bypassing Google Play's verification system to install an app means taking on all the risks that verification system was designed to filter out. For security-sensitive financial apps, this is a fundamentally incompatible choice.
Ultimately, the majority of Korean users of overseas exchanges will gradually either return to domestic exchanges, reduce their crypto trading altogether, or migrate to a third path: non-custodial wallets and decentralized exchanges (DEXs). Let us consider what changes each of these paths might bring to Korea's crypto ecosystem.
Intensified Oligopoly Among Domestic Exchanges: With overseas exchanges removed as competitors, the trading volume currently divided between Upbit and Bithumb is likely to become even more concentrated. When competition diminishes, so does the incentive to lower fees or innovate services. There is also the inconvenience that when user experience becomes limited to domestic exchanges (or the few overseas exchanges with VASP certification), the variety of accessible assets (listed assets) shrinks dramatically.
Migration to DeFi: In this policy update, Google explicitly excluded non-custodial wallets like MetaMask and Rabby Wallet from regulatory scope. The logic is that wallets where users manage their own private keys do not fall under the category of "exchanges." The existing demand for overseas exchange usage may shift in the short term to perp dexes. However, it remains questionable whether regulatory authorities, who prohibit the use of derivatives in principle, will continue to tacitly tolerate the use of perp dexes as they do now. Once taxation infrastructure becomes fully operational and the era arrives when on-chain activities must be reported, failure to report derivatives usage will naturally constitute tax evasion as well, making the legal risk for individuals far too great.
Global Exchanges Acquiring Domestic Exchanges: Binance already acquired a stake in the Korean exchange Gopax in February 2023 and officially entered the Korean market in October 2025. Following this precedent, other overseas exchanges may pursue acquiring VASP-licensed companies to continue operations in Korea. However, even if they enter the domestic market, they cannot offer derivatives products, so the user experience will still be diminished compared to before.
Full-Scale Cryptocurrency Taxation: Cryptocurrency taxation in Korea was previously postponed once and scheduled for 2027, but has been assessed as uncertain in terms of feasibility due to insufficient taxation infrastructure. At the heart of this issue was securing transaction records of overseas exchange users. To address this, Korean regulatory authorities joined CARF (Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework), an OECD-led international cooperation system, enabling automatic reporting of Korean users' transaction information from overseas exchanges to the National Tax Service. However, even with CARF in place, tracking transaction information from unregistered overseas exchanges remains challenging. Empowered by these measures, regulatory authorities may begin systematically blocking those whose information visibility cannot be secured, funneling Korean users toward a small number of trackable exchanges.
Beyond this, there is a point that must be considered regarding Google's action: this measure was not taken by domestic financial authorities, but was implemented unilaterally by the application platform itself.
Traditionally, a nation's regulatory power operated within physical borders. It was difficult to completely prevent domestic use of services with servers located overseas, which is why many regulations remained merely formal prohibitions without real effect. However, in a situation where two app markets, Google and Apple, hold an oligopoly over the global mobile ecosystem, the picture changes when these platforms decide to take preemptive regulatory measures.
This is because platforms can arbitrarily interpret the direction of national regulation and enforce controls accordingly. Looking at this case of unauthorized cryptocurrency exchanges alone, domestic financial authorities had previously taken only passive measures, sanctioning only certain aspects such as Korean-language marketing and referral programs. It has been reported that authorities only became aware of this measure after Google updated its policy. (Source: Maeil Business Crypto News) A reversed picture has emerged where platform operators impose more radical measures than regulatory authorities, and regulatory authorities must negotiate with them. Of course, there is also the possibility that authorities will seize this as an opportunity to pursue more aggressive regulation of unauthorized exchanges, but the fact that Google led this situation remains unchanged.
This measure is one of the first cases where this new form of digital sovereignty exercise has been applied in earnest to the domestic financial sector. And if it operates successfully, it is highly likely to spread to other areas. Just as unregistered overseas exchanges are being blocked, there is the possibility that platforms may exclude apps providing certain content under various pretexts. We stand at the threshold of an era where platforms are becoming the new borders.
