On December 18, a monitor at the Bithumb Lounge in Gangnam, Seoul’s Seocho District, displays Bitcoin prices. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, Dec. 25 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s cryptocurrency market has experienced a significant surge in investors, coinciding with the U.S. presidential election and growing optimism around President-elect Donald Trump’s pro-crypto policies.
According to data submitted by the Bank of Korea to lawmaker Lim Kwang-hyun of the National Assembly’s Strategy and Finance Committee, the number of domestic cryptocurrency investors reached 15.59 million by the end of November, up 610,000 from October.
This marks the first official statistics release on the nation’s crypto market since the Virtual Asset User Protection Act took effect in July.
This sharp increase aligns with a rally in Bitcoin prices, which jumped from around 100 million KRW at the end of October to over 135 million KRW by late November.
The total value of cryptocurrencies held by South Korean investors surged to 102.6 trillion KRW ($77 billion), compared to 58 trillion KRW in October, with the average per capita holding rising to 6.58 million KRW ($4,900).
Crypto trading volume also soared, with daily transaction amounts in November averaging 14.9 trillion KRW, surpassing combined trading volumes on South Korea’s Kospi and Kosdaq stock exchanges.
On December 18, a monitor at the Bithumb Lounge in Gangnam, Seoul’s Seocho District, displays Bitcoin prices. (Yonhap)
Lim highlighted the crypto market’s rapid expansion, now rivaling traditional equity markets, and called for comprehensive government measures to ensure market stability and investor protection.
The latest statistics underscore the growing prominence of digital assets in South Korea, where over 30% of the population is now estimated to be involved in cryptocurrency trading.
M. H. Lee (mhlee@koreabizwire.com)
