OKX has returned to South Korea’s Google Play Store after a four-day suspension, while Bybit’s app remains unavailable in the country.
Summary
- OKX’s Android app has returned to South Korea’s Google Play Store after about four days, allowing new downloads and updates again.
- Bybit remains unavailable on the Korean Google Play Store after its app was blocked earlier this month.
- Digital Asset previously found that 29 overseas crypto exchange apps had been restricted on Google Play under Google’s policy for unregistered VASPs.
According to a July 28 report by Digital Asset, the OKX: Trade Bitcoin & Crypto app once again appears in search results on South Korea’s Google Play Store, allowing users to install the application or update existing versions after it disappeared from the platform on July 24.
The publication verified that the exchange’s Android app had resumed normal distribution as of 8:00 a.m. local time on July 28. The restoration comes roughly four days after South Korean users lost access to new downloads and updates through Google Play.
Bybit, however, remains in a different position. Digital Asset said the exchange’s app, which became unavailable on July 10, was still blocked from search results and installation at the time of publication.
OKX becomes the first recent exchange to regain Play Store access
Only days earlier, Digital Asset had reported that the OKX app could no longer be found on South Korea’s Google Play Store, preventing Android users from installing or updating the application. At the time, other major overseas exchanges, including Binance and Bitget, continued to appear normally in search results and remained available for download.
The latest development makes OKX the first of the recently restricted overseas exchanges to return to the platform.
The restoration also changes part of a picture outlined by Digital Asset in a separate investigation published on July 24. In that report, the outlet found that at least 29 overseas cryptocurrency derivatives exchange apps had become unavailable on the Korean version of Google Play.
According to the investigation, 17 apps could no longer be found through search, six displayed an “Unavailable” notice, and another six showed a message stating that the service was not available in the user’s region.
At the time, both OKX and Bybit were included among the affected exchanges, with OKX becoming inaccessible on July 24 and Bybit on July 10.
Google’s restrictions have extended beyond the FIU’s enforcement list
Digital Asset’s earlier review also found that the affected exchanges fell into two categories.
Fourteen of the blocked platforms had already been identified by South Korea’s Financial Intelligence Unit as unreported virtual asset service providers and referred to law enforcement. The group included exchanges such as KuCoin, MEXC, BingX, XT.COM, LBank and CoinW.
The remaining 15 exchanges, including OKX, Bybit, Gemini, WhiteBIT and BitMEX, had not been referred to law enforcement by the FIU but were still unavailable through Google Play.
Based on those findings, Digital Asset reported that Google’s enforcement appeared to extend beyond the FIU’s published enforcement list. The publication said Google had indicated the restrictions were made under the company’s own policies rather than as a direct requirement from South Korean authorities.
Even while Android app availability changed, the July 24 report noted that affected users could still access the exchanges through their websites or Apple’s App Store.
Earlier policy changes laid the groundwork for the restrictions
The latest restoration comes against the backdrop of South Korea’s continuing oversight of overseas crypto businesses operating without local registration.
According to Digital Asset, the FIU classified overseas crypto firms that had not registered under the country’s Special Financial Information Act as unreported VASPs earlier this year. Google later introduced a policy to limit downloads and updates for such exchange apps on Google Play.
Although the policy had been scheduled to take effect earlier, Digital Asset noted that enforcement was not implemented immediately after the announced timeline. Restrictions instead appeared gradually, with multiple overseas exchanges becoming unavailable during 2026.
South Korean regulators have also increased enforcement across the digital asset sector beyond app distribution. Earlier this month, Financial Services Commission Chair Lee Eog-won said authorities had investigated more than 40 suspected cases of unfair crypto trading during the first two years of the Virtual Asset User Protection Act, referring more than 30 cases to investigative agencies while expanding AI-based market surveillance.
OKX continues expanding in other regulated markets
The app’s return to South Korea comes as OKX continues to grow its regulated operations outside the country.
Earlier this month, OKX Europe launched a one-way conversion service allowing customers across 30 European Union and European Economic Area countries to deposit USDT and voluntarily convert their holdings into MiCA-compliant USDC after European exchanges tightened support for Tether’s stablecoin.
The company has also continued building its institutional business. On July 20, former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo joined OKX’s board of directors after advising the exchange since 2023 on U.S. regulatory and institutional strategy. OKX has also been expanding its presence in the United States following the relaunch of its U.S. exchange and self-custody wallet in 2025.
