South Korean investors' holdings in cryptocurrency assets have shrunk by over 50% in a year, with funds accelerating flow into the stock market

Data submitted by the Bank of Korea to the National Assembly shows that the scale of cryptocurrency assets held by South Korean investors has decreased from 121.8 trillion won (approximately 8.33 billion USD) at the end of 2025 to 60.6 trillion won (approximately 4.14 billion USD) at the end of 2026, shrinking by more than 50% in one year. During the same period, the average daily trading volume of South Korea's five major exchanges—Upbit, Bithumb, Korbit, Coinone, and Gopax—also fell from 11.6 billion USD in December 2024 to 3 billion USD in February this year.

The scale of deposits in exchanges in won has decreased from 10.7 trillion won to 7.8 trillion won, reflecting that some funds are flowing into the South Korean stock market. However, the holdings of stablecoins remain relatively strong. Data shows that South Korea's stablecoin holdings peaked at 597 million USD in December 2024 and fell to 41 million USD in February this year, with a decline significantly smaller than that of the overall cryptocurrency market. In addition, South Korean regulators plan to implement stricter anti-money laundering rules in August, automatically marking transactions involving overseas exchanges or private wallets exceeding 10 million won as suspicious transactions. The Digital Asset Exchange Association (DAXA) of South Korea has warned that this measure may lead users to turn to overseas platforms like Binance. The South Korean Ministry of Finance also recently confirmed for the first time that a 22% tax rate on cryptocurrency gains will officially take effect on January 1, 2027.