Lee Heonseung: "Virtual Asset Trading Participants Up 70% in Three Years... Urgent Need for Second-Stage Legislation"

Concentration of the Three Major Coins Rises by 9 Percentage Points Over Three Years

The number of participants in the domestic won-based virtual asset trading market has increased by approximately 70% over the past three years.

According to data submitted by Assemblyman Lee Heonseung of the People Power Party from the Financial Supervisory Service on January 28, the total number of participants in the five major domestic virtual asset exchanges (Upbit, Bithumb, Coinone, Streami, and Korbit) steadily increased from 5,820,929 in 2023 to 8,908,391 in 2024, and then to 9,912,219 last year. The number of participants last year represented a 70.3% increase compared to 2023. The total transaction amount for the five major exchanges surged from 1,122.221 trillion won in 2023 to 2,411.3217 trillion won in 2024, before entering a correction phase last year at 2,139.8938 trillion won.

The concentration of transaction volume in the three major coins (Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Ripple) rose from 20.7% in 2023 to 25.4% in 2024, and then to 29.3% last year, marking an increase of about 9 percentage points over three years. Assemblyman Lee explained, "It has been confirmed that transactions are being reorganized around high-quality virtual assets." In particular, Ethereum's transaction volume increased by an annual average of 122.8%, while the number of participants grew by an annual average of 76.5%.

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Ripple also saw its average annual transaction volume increase by 86.5%, with the number of participants rising by 47.0% annually. For Bitcoin, the average annual transaction volume increased by 21.1%, and the number of participants grew by 49.4% on average each year.

As of last year, the average transaction amount per person was 100 million won for Ripple, 60 million won for Ethereum, and 50 million won for Bitcoin. The average transaction amount per person across the entire market was calculated at 220 million won.

Assemblyman Lee stated, "The increased share of transactions involving virtual assets with large market capitalizations and relatively high stability indicates a growing trend of recognizing virtual assets as mid- to long-term investment assets," adding, "Now that the virtual asset market has entered a correction phase, it is time to establish an institutional framework that not only regulates simple transactions but also encompasses investor protection and industry development."