Domestic Virtual Asset Market Size 55.2 Trillion Won... Most Used by 30s and 40s Generations

[Asia Economy Reporter Song Hwajeong] The domestic virtual asset market size has surpassed 55 trillion won. In particular, it was found that people in their 30s and 40s use virtual assets the most.

According to the "2021 Second Half Virtual Asset Business Operators Survey Results" announced on the 1st by the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) under the Financial Services Commission, the market capitalization of the domestic virtual asset market was estimated at 55.2 trillion won as of the end of last year. The average daily transaction volume reached 11.3 trillion won.

This survey was conducted on 29 virtual asset business operators reported in the second half of last year (24 trading operators and 5 other operators). Among them, the 5 other operators in the early stages of business were excluded from this survey as meaningful statistics were not considered to be collected.

In the second half of last year (6 months), the total transaction amount of 24 trading operators was 2,073 trillion won, with an average daily transaction (execution) amount of 11.3 trillion won. The daily transaction amount in the KRW market was 10.7 trillion won, accounting for 95% of the total, while the daily transaction amount in the coin market was about 600 billion won, which is 5% of the transaction volume.

The average commission rate for buying and selling virtual assets was 0.17%, which was found to be considerably higher compared to stock trading commission rates. The average commission rate in the KRW market was 0.16%, and the average commission rate in the coin market was 0.17%.

The operating profit of all trading operators last year was 3.37 trillion won, while some (9 companies) coin market operators recorded operating losses.

As of the end of December last year, the total KRW deposits held by customers as pending trading funds amounted to 7.64 trillion won.

The total number of virtual assets traded domestically was 1,257, consisting of 623 types, among which 403 types were single-listed virtual assets, which is a very large number.

The FIU explained, "Compared to the global market, the domestic market has a lower proportion of major virtual assets and a higher investment in non-mainstream and single-listed virtual assets," adding, "Half (219 types) of the single-listed virtual assets have a maximum drawdown (MDD) of over 70% from their peak prices, so users need to approach them cautiously."

The total number of domestic users utilizing virtual asset business operators was 15.25 million, with 5.58 million users actually participating in transactions. By age group, those in their 30s and 40s accounted for 58% of the total, and the majority (56%) were found to hold virtual assets worth less than 1 million won. Transaction participants engaged in an average of 4 transactions (buying and selling) per day, with an average transaction amount of about 750,000 won per transaction.

An FIU official stated, "This survey is significant as the first result of the domestic virtual asset market survey, and we will regularly conduct semi-annual surveys to accumulate data on the domestic virtual asset market in the future."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.