South Korean crypto exchange users hit 16M in ‘saturation point’

Crypto exchange users in South Korea have crossed over 16 million after receiving a boost following US President Donald Trump’s election win last November. 

Data submitted to representative Cha Gyu-geun of the minor opposition Rebuilding Korea Party found over 16 million people had crypto exchange accounts out of a total population of 51.7 million, according to a March 30 report from local news agency Yonhap. 

This would be equivalent to over 30% of the population. 

All the data was taken from the top five domestic virtual exchanges in South Korea: Upbit, Bithumb, Coinone, Korbit and Gopax. Individuals with multiple accounts were only counted once.

Industry officials are reportedly speculating the number of crypto users could hit 20 million by the end of the year, with one unnamed official being cited by Yonhap saying:

Following Trump’s election win last November, the number of crypto users spiked by over 600,000 to 15.6 million, collectively holding 102.6 trillion South Korean won ($70.3 billion) in crypto assets.

Investors in South Korea’s crypto market had 102.6 trillion South Korean Won ($70.3 billion) in crypto assets as of last December. Source: Yonhap News

The number of crypto investors exceeded 14 million in March 2024, according to Yonhap.

Meanwhile, Korea’s Securities Depository shows only 14.1 million listed individual investors in the stock market as of December last year, according to the South Korean financial publication the Maeil Business Newspaper.

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South Korean public officials have also reported holding and investing in crypto. 

The country’s Ethics Commission for Government Officials disclosed on March 27 that 20% of surveyed public officials hold 14.4 billion won ($9.8 million) in crypto, representing 411 of the 2,047 officials subjected to the country’s disclosure requirements to hold crypto assets. 

The highest amount disclosed was 1.76 billion won ($1.2 million) belonging to Seoul City Councilor Kim Hye-young. 

Meanwhile, on March 26, the Financial Intelligence Unit of the South Korean Financial Services Commission published a list of 22 unregistered platforms and 17 that were blocked from the Google Play store. 

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