South Korea's Crypto Market Is Getting Older, Quieter, and Smaller

South Korea’s crypto market is getting older, quieter, and smaller, according to a half-yearly survey released on October 1 by the Korea Financial Intelligence Unit (KoFIU) and the Financial Supervisory Service.

Users in their 40s are now the largest age group, daily trading volume fell 44%, and the value of crypto on domestic exchanges shrank by a third in the first half of 2026.

Crypto assets on those exchanges also posted a 69% maximum drawdown, higher than KOSPI’s 55.1% and KOSDAQ’s 31.8% over the same period. The survey covered 26 registered virtual asset service providers.

Korea’s Crypto Market Lost a Third of Its Value

The market capitalization of crypto listed on domestic exchanges fell 33% to 58.9 trillion won, according to the KoFIU survey. That left the market 28.3 trillion won smaller than in the second half of 2025.

Trading activity fell further than valuations, with average daily volume down 44% to 3.1 trillion won. Won deposits held on exchanges dropped 35% to 5.2 trillion won over the same period.

“Both KRW-based exchange service providers and coin-only exchange service providers saw drops in average daily trading volume,” the results showed.

KoFIU measures maximum drawdown as the difference between the highest and lowest price, divided by the highest price. The figure eased from 73% in the second half of 2025. That points to slightly narrower price swings, although the drawdown still exceeded both stock indices.

The latest data also extends a decline recorded in late 2025. During that half, market capitalization slipped 8% and operating profits fell 38%, although deposits rose 31%.

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Users Stayed on Korean Exchanges While Profits Fell 78%

Accounts eligible to trade edged up 0.4% to 11.175 million. However, exchanges earned far less as trading volume fell.

Sales across domestic exchanges fell 41%. Meanwhile, combined operating profit dropped 78% to 81.6 billion won, down from 374.8 billion won in the previous half.

Also, users in their 40s overtook those in their 30s as the largest group. While, users holding under 1 million won rose 4% to 8.63 million.

The regulator separately flagged risks in smaller listings. Of 234 tokens traded on only one exchange, 93 had market caps of 100 million won or less. KoFIU warned that such tokens carry liquidity risk and extreme price volatility.

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