South Korea's cryptocurrency market shrank by about 28 trillion won in the first half of the year as bitcoin weakened. The slowdown in trading drove operating income at domestic virtual asset exchanges down nearly 80%.
The total appraised value of cryptocurrencies stood at 58.9 trillion won ($42 billion) at the end of June, down 33% from 87.2 trillion won at the end of last year, according to a survey of virtual asset service providers for the first half of 2026 released by financial regulators on the 1st. Average daily trading volume fell to 3.1 trillion won from 5.4 trillion won over the same period.
The contraction in trading translated into weaker earnings at exchanges. Operating income at cryptocurrency exchanges plunged 78% to 81.6 billion won from 374.8 billion won. Won-denominated customer deposits also fell to 5.2 trillion won from 8.1 trillion won.
Won-based markets were hit hardest. Operating profit at won markets, where cryptocurrencies are traded against the Korean won, fell 74% to 101.8 billion won. Coin markets, which support trading between cryptocurrencies, posted an operating loss of 20.2 billion won, though the loss narrowed by 4%.
The number of listed cryptocurrencies, excluding duplicate listings, fell to 673 from 712 at the end of last year. Of the 234 cryptocurrencies listed on a single exchange, 40%, or 93, had an appraised value of 100 million won or less.
The drop in trading volume is tied to bitcoin's price decline in the first half, analysts said. Bitcoin fell 33% to $58,559 at the end of June from $87,509 at the end of last year. Financial regulators said the decline deepened as inflationary pressure from the war between the United States and Iran pushed back expectations for interest rate cuts and risk aversion spread.
The number of users rose slightly, but most were small investors. Tradable accounts totaled 11,174,788 in June, up slightly from 11,126,238 at the end of last year. Of those, 77.2%, or 8.63 million, held less than 1 million won.
The share of users holding at least 10 million won in assets was 8%, or 890,000 accounts, down 2 percentage points from the end of last year. The share holding at least 100 million won fell 0.5 percentage point to 1%, or 110,000 accounts.
By age group, people in their 40s accounted for the largest share at 26.9%, followed by those in their 30s at 26.7%, those in their 50s at 20.2% and those aged 29 and under at 17.4%. Men outnumbered women in every age group.
