The South Korean won has surpassed the US dollar and has become the main currency for cryptocurrency transactions around the world.
According to a recent report from research firm Kaiko, Korean won-related transactions on centralized cryptocurrency exchanges reached $456 billion in the first quarter of 2024. This figure was slightly higher than the $445 billion in dollar-denominated transactions during the same period.
The change in trading dominance is partly due to intense competition among Korean exchanges. In particular, smaller platforms like Bithumb and Korbit have introduced zero-commission trading offers to take market share away from market leader Upbit, which currently controls over 80% of spot trading volume. .
Market Insights from Bloomberg suggests that South Korean traders prefer smaller, more speculative digital currencies known as altcoins over more established cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ether. These two altcoins account for over 80% of the country's trading activity.
Strong interest in cryptocurrencies is also influencing political debate in South Korea. Cryptocurrency regulation was a key issue in recent Congressional elections, with candidates proposing policies that would defer taxes on digital assets and ease restrictions on U.S. Bitcoin ETF investing in a bid to attract younger voters.
Following the $40 billion collapse of the TerraUSD stablecoin developed by Do Kwon, South Korean regulators have announced plans to introduce stricter rules to strengthen investor protection, effective in July. I plan to Despite ongoing regulatory moves, the adoption of cryptocurrencies in the country is on the rise. One of the leading exchanges, Crypto.com, recently announced plans to launch services for individual traders in the country.
