An overseas cryptocurrency exchange whose app downloads were blocked in South Korea for operating without registration has re-entered the domestic market in just two months. It added crypto trading functions to its existing wallet app and linked the blocked exchange app's member data and won deposit function to it, sidestepping regulators' monitoring.
BTCC, which was barred in June from iPhone and Android app stores as an unregistered exchange, has been supporting spot cryptocurrency trading through its "BTCC Wallet" app since last month, according to financial industry sources on the 30th.
The app was originally designed for storing and transferring cryptocurrency, but it has effectively been turned into an exchange app with the recent addition of spot trading. In app stores, it is described as a "bitcoin wallet and exchange" and advertised as supporting trading in more than 380 cryptocurrencies. Account information has also been linked so that existing users can be absorbed as they are. Users can log in to BTCC Wallet with the accounts they used on the blocked BTCC app, without going through a separate sign-up process. The trading functions are also similar to those of the previous exchange app. Beyond spot trading, it supports perpetual futures trading with leverage of up to 500 times on bitcoin, ethereum, XRP and solana.
The won deposit function using domestic bank accounts, which had drawn criticism, remains available as well. When a user transfers won to a designated domestic bank account, tether (USDT) is credited to the exchange account and can be used for cryptocurrency trading. "Blocking apps after the fact has limits when it comes to stopping overseas operators from circumventing the rules," an official in the cryptocurrency industry said. "Every time they change the app or the form of the service, it has to be detected and blocked all over again, so regulatory gaps are bound to keep recurring."
