Over a third of South Koreans are Crypto Investors
By According to South Korean National Assembly deputy Cha Gyu-geun, about 32% of South Koreans are crypto investors. The politician shared data that more than 16 million citizens have accounts on the largest five cryptocurrency exchanges in the Republic of Korea: Upbit, Bithumb, Coinone, Korbit and Gopax. At the same time, there are 14.1 million investors on the national stock exchange.
To exclude double counting, it was reported that traders who use several trading floors were counted only once. Cha Gyu Geun emphasized that the growth of interest in cryptocurrencies among South Koreans began in March 2024. Over the course of a year, the number of crypto enthusiasts exceeded 2 million people. November was marked by a peak in registrations — in a short period of time, more than half a million new users were attracted to the exchanges.
Upbit is in the lead among trading platforms — 9.2 million registered users. Coinone and Bithumb follow in second and third places with 3.2 and 2.36 million, respectively.
About 40% of all investors are people aged 30 to 40 years. It is noteworthy that women over 50, especially those with significant financial resources, are actively involved in buying digital coins.
The majority of residents (83.1%) own assets worth less than one million won ($680). Only 160,000 South Koreans crypto investors have assets valued at over 100 million won, which is equivalent to $68,000.
Recently, the financial intelligence unit of South Korea started an investigation into KuCoin and BitMEX cryptocurrency exchanges because of their unregistered status as providers of services for virtual assets.
