S.Korea's crypto market doubles to $77.5 bn with 20% of population trading

South Korea’s cryptocurrency market surged to nearly 108 trillion won ($77.5 billion) in the second half of last year, fueled by growing retail interest, with 20% of the country’s population now trading digital assets. Investors in their 30s led the charge, underscoring the asset’s appeal to younger, risk-tolerant investors.  

According to data released by the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) under the Financial Services Commission on Tuesday, the country’s cryptocurrency market nearly doubled from 56.5 trillion won in June 2024 amid optimism over a crypto-friendly US policy shift under President Donald Trump.  

Over the same period, the daily average crypto trading volume climbed 22% to 7.3 trillion won, while deposits in the Korean currency at domestic exchanges more than doubled to 10.7 trillion won.

Driven by the ballooned trading volume, the country’s virtual asset service providers’ combined operating profit rose 28% to 741.5 billion won.

As of year-end 2024, the number of verified users eligible to trade digital assets reached 9.7 million, up 25% from mid-year. This means one in five Koreans trades cryptocurrencies.

Investors in their 30s represented the largest group at 29%, followed by those in their 40s at 27%, under-20s at 19%, 50s at 18% and 60s and older at 7%.

Despite the rapid growth, most investors held relatively small positions, with 66% of users holding less than 500,000 won in crypto assets.

The share of investors holding more than 10 million won in cryptocurrencies increased 2 percentage points to 12%, while 2.3% of users had portfolios exceeding 100 million won, indicating a gradual concentration of wealth.

While the Korean won-based market's performance was strong, the coin-to-coin trading segment contracted sharply last year, with daily average volume plunging 81% to 160 million won.

There are two types of crypto markets in Korea – the Korean won-based market, where investors with traditional bank accounts registered with the country’s big five crypto exchanges are allowed to trade digital currencies with fiat money, and the coin-to-coin market, where users trade digital coins directly without fiat.

The coin-to-coin segment posted an operating loss of 12.6 billion won, a stark contrast to the gains seen in fiat-based transactions.

Wallet-based custody services also saw a sharp retreat. Total assets under custody by wallet providers fell 89% to 1.5 trillion won, while the number of users plummeted 99% to just 1,300.

As of end-2024, Korea had 25 registered virtual asset market operators – 17 crypto exchanges and eight wallet providers, according to the financial regulator.

Write to Mi-Hyun Jo at mwise@hankyung.com

Sookyung Seo edited this article.