The South Korea Financial Services Commission published survey results showing a broad contraction in the domestic cryptoasset market in the first half of 2026. The aggregate value of domestic holdings fell 33% from the end of 2025 to KRW 58.9 trillion, while average daily trading declined 44% from the previous half-year to KRW 3.1 trillion. Won deposits dropped 35% to KRW 5.2 trillion, exchange revenue fell 41% and exchange operating profit decreased 78% to KRW 81.6 billion. The Korea Financial Intelligence Unit and Financial Supervisory Service compiled the survey from submissions by 26 exchanges, wallet providers and custodians. Won markets continued to dominate, accounting for 99.4% of aggregate holdings value. Newly calculated monthly turnover ranged from 100% to 201% in won markets, compared with 2% to 9% in coin markets. The number of cryptoassets available domestically declined 5% to 673, while assets listed on only one domestic exchange fell 21% to 234. Such assets represented just 1% of aggregate value, but 40% had a valuation of KRW 100 million or less and recorded an average maximum drawdown of 77%, highlighting liquidity and price volatility risks. Tradable exchange accounts edged up 0.4% to 11.175 million despite the market contraction, with people in their 40s becoming the largest age group and 77.2% of accounts holding less than KRW 1 million. External cryptoasset transfers declined 41% to KRW 62.8 trillion, of which 15% was subject to the travel rule and 83% used whitelisted overseas provider or personal wallet addresses. Wallet and custody providers recorded a 25% fall in assets under custody to KRW 230.4 billion and a widening operating loss of KRW 18.6 billion.

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