South Korea holds the world's second-largest volume of cryptocurrency verifiable on the blockchain, including in personal wallets and on exchanges, trailing only the United States. The country also ranks sixth worldwide in stablecoin payments received. With trading volumes relatively large and supporting infrastructure still thin, market participants warn that a tax set to take effect next year could trigger an exodus of funds.
Blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis ranked South Korea fifth among 117 countries surveyed in its recently released 2026 Global Crypto Adoption Index, according to financial industry sources on the 28th. Brazil took the top spot, with South Korea placing fifth behind the United States, Nigeria and Japan.
In the on-chain holdings category, which measures crypto held in personal wallets, on exchanges and in other on-chain services, South Korea ranked second in the world after the United States. Given that domestic corporate participation in the market has yet to begin in earnest, the figures suggest retail investors are driving the market. A survey of virtual asset service providers by financial regulators in the second half of last year found that individuals accounted for 99.9% of users at domestic virtual asset service providers.
Retail investors have become increasingly prominent in the global crypto market in recent months. Small-value transactions have risen sharply as new investment options such as tokenized stocks emerge and as stablecoins gain traction for payments and remittances.
Growth in stablecoin payments has been especially strong in the Asia-Pacific region, including South Korea. Asia-Pacific accounted for 51.2% of global stablecoin payment volume where the country or region could be identified, more than half the total, according to CoinDesk Research. Transactions were concentrated in South Korea, Taiwan, Indonesia, India and Australia, with flows from Taiwan to South Korea cited as one of the major stablecoin payment corridors.
South Korea also ranked near the top by country in payments received. Stablecoin payments received in South Korea totaled $5.3 billion from January through August this year, the sixth-highest worldwide among payments with an identifiable recipient country, according to blockchain analytics firm Allium. Thailand led with $10.8 billion, followed by Turkey at $7.8 billion, Indonesia at $6.3 billion, Mexico at $6.1 billion and the United States at $5.7 billion.
With domestic investors actively trading and crypto increasingly used for payments and remittances, there is widespread concern that trading demand could shift overseas if the tax takes effect as scheduled next year. In a survey of 2,423 domestic crypto investors by Tiger Research, 73.1% of respondents said they were likely to reduce their use of domestic exchanges once the tax takes effect. Of those, 88% said they might increase their use of global exchanges or personal wallets. Tiger Research estimated that in that case, annual trading volume at the three largest domestic exchanges — Upbit, Bithumb and Coinone — would fall 30% to 602 trillion won next year from about 860 trillion won this year.
That has revived debate in the National Assembly over delaying the levy, now three months away. The Assembly's Finance and Economic Planning Committee tabled two income tax amendment bills to postpone crypto taxation at a full committee meeting on the same day. A bill by Rep. Jeong Sung-kook of the People Power Party would push back the January start date by three years, while a bill by Rep. Kim Sang-hoon of the same party would delay it by two years. A public petition calling for the crypto tax to be scrapped also reached the full committee agenda for the first time, four months after it was referred to the committee in May. Rep. Min Byoung-dug of the Democratic Party of Korea and independent Rep. Han Dong-hoon had earlier raised the need for a delay.
The government, however, is holding to its plan to begin taxing crypto in January. Lee Hyoung-il, deputy prime minister and minister of finance and economy, told the committee meeting that day that the National Tax Service is preparing a public notice on crypto taxation, adding that the government would consult with relevant parties and move forward as soon as possible.
