Crypto Frenzy Boosts Korea’s Digital Asset Market to $77.6 Billion (Yonhap)
SEOUL, May 20 (Korea Bizwire) — The value of South Korea’s virtual asset market nearly doubled in the second half of last year from six months earlier, on rising prices of cryptocurrencies, data showed Tuesday.
The market capitalization of the virtual asset market had come to 107.7 trillion won (US$77.6 billion) as of end-2024, up 51.2 trillion won, or 91 percent from six months ago, according to the data from the Financial Services Commission (FSC).
The total value of Korean won deposits made by traders also jumped 114 percent to 10.7 trillion won, while the operating profit of market operators advanced 28 percent to 742 billion won over the cited period.
There had been 25 virtual asset market operators in South Korea as of end-2024, including 17 crypto exchanges, according to the financial regulator.
In the six months ended December 31, the average value of daily crypto transactions reached 7.3 trillion won, up 22 percent from the daily average of 6 trillion won in the first half of 2024, according to the FSC.
The number of market users gained 25 percent to some 9.7 million over the cited period, while 6.84 million of them held virtual assets of less than 1 million won each.
The data also showed 1,357 types of cryptocurrency, including Bitcoin, Ethereum and Dogecoin, were traded in the South Korean market in the second half of last year, up from 1,207 in the first half.
The max draw down rate of cryptocurrencies, which shows the price volatility, had stood at 68 percent as of end-December, down 2 percentage points from six months earlier, according to the data.
(Yonhap)
