South Korea's daily crypto trading surpasses stock markets

ISTANBUL

The daily trading volume of cryptocurrencies in South Korea has surpassed that of the country’s stock markets, with the total market capitalization of digital assets exceeding 100 trillion ($74.8 billion) won, the Chosun Daily reported Tuesday.

Despite having a market capitalization of about $70.2 billion in December, the crypto market saw nearly $1.4 billion more in daily trading activity than the stock market, which had a market cap of over $1.6 billion.

The average daily trading volume of South Korean cryptocurrency exchanges in December was $12 billion, or roughly 17% of total holdings. Trading activity dramatically increased at the year’s end following the $2.38 billion figure from October, rising to $10.4 billion in November.

Notably, the crypto market’s daily trading volume in December surpassed that of the combined average of the country's two primary stock exchanges, the Korean Securities Dealers Automated Quotations and the Korea Composite Stock Price Index, at $10.7 billion.

As of the end of last year, the total value of digital assets owned by the nation's five main exchanges -- Upbit, Bithumb, Coinone, Korbit, and GOPAX -- was $73 billion, according to a 2024 report on payment and settlement systems published by the Bank of Korea.

Several global developments have fueled the market boom and investor optimism in the sector, including the re-election of US President Donald Trump -- who has expressed support for cryptocurrencies— the implementation of the European Union’s Markets in Crypto-Assets regulation, and the approval of spot crypto ETFs (exchange-traded funds) in both Hong Kong and the US.

In November, South Korea's cryptocurrency market capitalization crossed the $70 billion threshold for the first time, nearly doubling from $40.7 billion in late October.