Kim So-young, Vice Chairman of the Financial Services Commission, is speaking at the urgent inspection meeting between the ruling party and the government on restoring fairness in the virtual asset market and investor protection measures held at the National Assembly on the 13th. [Photo by Yonhap News]
[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Jung-yoon] The domestic cryptocurrency market size has been identified as 55.2 trillion KRW, with an average daily trading volume of 11.3 trillion KRW.
The Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) of the Financial Services Commission announced this on the 13th during a government-party meeting held at the National Assembly to restore fairness in the virtual asset market and protect investors.
According to the FIU, there are a total of 1,257 cryptocurrencies traded domestically, comprising 623 types, with 403 types being exclusively listed cryptocurrencies, the largest group. While Bitcoin and Ethereum accounted for 59% of the global market capitalization, their share in the domestic KRW market was 27%, and only 9% in the coin market. The KRW market operators accounted for 95% of the total trading volume, demonstrating a high level of dominance.
Among the exclusively listed cryptocurrencies, about half, 219 types, recorded a price decline of over 70% compared to their peak prices. The FIU emphasized the need for cautious investment, noting that seven exchanges handle more than 50% of exclusively listed cryptocurrencies.
Additionally, the total number of domestic users utilizing exchanges was 15.25 million, with 5.58 million participating in actual trading. By age group, those in their 30s and 40s accounted for 58%, the largest share. It was found that 56% of all users held cryptocurrencies valued at 1 million KRW or less, and traders conducted an average of four transactions per day. The average transaction amount per trade was approximately 750,000 KRW.
The FIU promotes anti-money laundering measures such as internal controls among virtual asset operators through comprehensive inspections. In the first half of this year, on-site inspections were completed for three companies. Based on the results of the comprehensive inspections, the FIU plans to monitor suspicious transactions and actual operational conditions for businesses under watch. Additionally, ad-hoc inspections will be conducted in cases of urgent money laundering issues or multiple complaints.
The FIU explained, "Comprehensive inspections of KRW and coin market operators will be conducted throughout the year, and partial inspections of businesses under watch will be carried out concurrently within feasible limits," adding, "To this end, active expansion of inspection organizations and personnel is necessary."
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