Decoding the report from the South Korean Financial Services Commission: Market total market value growth lags behind the global average, with 15% of the population owning exchange accounts

The Financial Services Commission (FSC) of South Korea is a commission directly under the Prime Minister's office, and the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS), which we are familiar with, is also one of its subordinate organizations. Recently, the FSC of South Korea released the results of the virtual asset business survey for the first half of the year. In terms of the scale of the survey, it can be considered the most comprehensive survey in the South Korean market to date. Results

South Korean Market Value Growth Falls Behind Global Data, Possibly Due to Altcoin Enthusiasm

As of the end of June 2024, a total of 37 companies participated in the report, with 16 not included, 11 closed, and 5 not submitted. Among the 21 virtual asset service providers, there were 14 exchanges and 7 wallets.

We can see that the market value of cryptocurrencies in the South Korean market surged from 43.6 trillion KRW in the second half of 2023 to 55.3 trillion KRW in the first half of 2024, an increase of 11.7 trillion KRW, or approximately 27%. In contrast, the global cryptocurrency market value increased from 1.73 trillion USD in the second half of 2023 to 2.41 trillion USD in the first half of 2024, an increase of 680 billion USD, or about 39%. This indicates that the performance of the South Korean market during this period was slightly behind the global development. This may be due to the South Korean market's preference for low market cap competitive coins rather than the more dominant mainstream coins in the past six months.

Furthermore, the number of digital assets listed in the South Korean market decreased from 1333 to 1207, a decrease of about 9.5%. Even after excluding coins listed on multiple exchanges, the number is still as high as 7.7%. This data also confirms previous reports that the turnover rate in the South Korean market is extremely high. 54% of coins are delisted within two years, with half of them not even lasting a year.

South Korea's Financial Supervisory Service: 20% of coins in the South Korean market do not last a year, data reveals the liquidity behind the Kimchi premium

15% of South Koreans Have Exchange Accounts, Most Have Not Seriously Invested in Cryptocurrencies

The daily trading volume in the South Korean market increased from 3.6 trillion KRW in the second half of last year to 6 trillion KRW, an increase of approximately 67%. Along with the significant increase in trading volume, the total profit and loss doubled from 287 billion KRW to 590 billion KRW.

The number of users increased from 6.45 million to 7.78 million, a 21% increase from last year. With South Korea's total population of 50 million, about 15% of the population is registered with an exchange. However, as mentioned earlier, the top 1% of users in the South Korean market account for 70% of the total market. We can see that the number of users holding less than 1 million KRW increased from 4.55 million to 5.67 million, with the percentage increasing slightly from 70% to 72%.

The top 1% of accounts in South Korea account for 70% of the total investment in the market, revealing the mysterious veil behind the Kimchi premium

In addition, the Financial Services Commission also warned that the price volatility of digital assets is 70%, an increase of 8 percentage points from the second half of 2023, which requires special attention. Furthermore, the decrease in anti-money laundering officers and exchange bankruptcies are also issues that investors should pay attention to.