"All or Nothing" Over 100,000 Cryptocurrency Holders with More Than 100 Million Won... Half of Investors Are '2030'...

[Asia Economy Reporter Ji Yeon-jin] Amid the global virtual market turmoil caused by the domestic stablecoin Terra incident, it was found that nearly 100,000 users in South Korea held virtual assets (cryptocurrencies) worth more than 100 million KRW as of the end of last year. There were 820,000 users holding virtual assets worth more than 10 million KRW, and over 70% held less than 1 million KRW.

According to the Financial Services Commission on the 19th, the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) conducted a survey on 29 operators in the second half of last year to understand the status of the domestic virtual asset market. As of the end of December last year, the actual number of users across all domestic virtual asset exchanges, including the KRW market and coin market, was 5.58 million. The actual user count means that a single investor registered on multiple exchanges was counted only once.

Among them, 94,000 users held more than 100 million KRW, accounting for 1.7% of the total, and 4,000 users (0.1%) held more than 1 billion KRW. Users holding between 10 million KRW and 100 million KRW numbered 730,000, accounting for 13% of the total. Those holding between 1 million KRW and 10 million KRW were 1.63 million, and those holding less than 1 million KRW were 2.76 million, accounting for 29% and 49% of the total, respectively. 56% of users (3.13 million) held less than 1 million KRW.

The total number of registered users with accounts opened at 24 operators was 15.25 million, with 15.25 million individual users and 4,426 corporate users. Virtual asset holders were overwhelmingly male, with 3.74 million men compared to 1.84 million women. The largest user groups were in their 30s (1.74 million, 31%) and 40s (1.48 million, 27%). Notably, users aged 20 and under holding virtual assets accounted for 24% of the total, or 1.34 million, while those in their 50s and 60s and above numbered 800,000 and 230,000, respectively.

There were 1,257 virtual assets circulating domestically, comprising 623 types, with an average maximum drawdown (MDD) of 65%, which is 4.4 times that of the securities market, indicating much higher volatility than the stock market.

Additionally, in the domestic virtual asset market, the trading proportion of major virtual assets such as Bitcoin and Ethereum was 27% in the KRW market and 9% in the coin market, showing a significant gap compared to the global average of 59%.

In particular, there were as many as 403 types of single-listed virtual assets. Half of these single-listed virtual assets (219 types) had a maximum drawdown (MDD) of over 70% from their peak prices, indicating the need for users to approach with caution. Single-listed virtual assets are coins traded only on specific exchanges rather than being listed on multiple exchanges, which may carry relatively higher investment risks.

The financial authorities, prompted by the recent Luna incident, are accelerating the enactment of the Digital Asset Basic Act and are intensively monitoring cryptocurrencies with risks such as stablecoins. Stablecoins refer to cryptocurrencies designed to be pegged to fiat currencies like the US dollar. The Korean coin Terra, which recently became a trigger in the cryptocurrency market, is a stablecoin. Luna is Terra’s sister coin.

The financial authorities are known to be conducting inspections on other exchanges following investigations into money laundering at Coinone and GOPAX. Through on-site audits of these exchanges, the authorities have checked the number of members, transaction details, transaction details by age group, monthly sales, and fee status.

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