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"Impact of booming domestic and international stock markets and falling virtual asset prices"
It has been revealed that the virtual asset holdings and transaction volumes of domestic investors have decreased by half in about a year.
During this period, the amount of Korean Won deposits at virtual asset exchanges also decreased, but stablecoin holdings more than doubled, drawing attention.
According to data submitted by the Bank of Korea to Rep. Cha Kyu-geun of the Rebuilding Korea Party, a member of the National Assembly's Finance and Economy Planning Committee, as of the end of February this year, domestic virtual asset holdings were tallied at 60.6 trillion won.
This figure is the sum of the market prices of virtual assets held by investors with accounts at the top 5 domestic virtual asset exchanges (Upbit, Bithumb, Korbit, Coinone, Gopax) at the end of the month.
┌─────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Monthly Virtual Asset Holdings, Daily Average Transaction Volume, and Deposit Trends (Unit: Trillion Won) │
│ ※ Source: Bank of Korea data, provided by Rep. Cha Kyu-geun's office. │
├─────────┬─────────┬────────┬────────┤
│ Period │ Holdings │ Transaction Volume │ Deposits │
├─────────┼─────────┼────────┼────────┤
│End of July 2024 │ 58.6│ 2.9│ 4.9│
├─────────┼─────────┼────────┼────────┤
│End of August │ 50.6│ 2.7│ 4.5│
├─────────┼─────────┼────────┼────────┤
│End of September │ 54.8│ 2.8│ 4.4│
├─────────┼─────────┼────────┼────────┤
│End of October │ 58.0│ 3.4│ 4.7│
├─────────┼─────────┼────────┼────────┤
│End of November │ 102.6│ 14.9│ 8.8│
├─────────┼─────────┼────────┼────────┤
│End of December │ 104.2│ 17.1│ 10.7│
├─────────┼─────────┼────────┼────────┤
│End of January 2025 │ 121.8│ 11.8│ 10.6│
├─────────┼─────────┼────────┼────────┤
│End of February │ 86.2│ 7.6│ 8.6│
├─────────┼─────────┼────────┼────────┤
│End of March │ 84.1│ 5.6│ 7.4│
├─────────┼─────────┼────────┼────────┤
│End of April │ 88.3│ 5.3│ 6.9│
├─────────┼─────────┼────────┼────────┤
│End of May │ 93.0│ 5.0│ 7.0│
├─────────┼─────────┼────────┼────────┤
│End of June │ 89.2│ 3.2│ 6.2│
├─────────┼─────────┼────────┼────────┤
│End of July │ 112.5│ 7.2│ 8.8│
├─────────┼─────────┼────────┼────────┤
│End of August │ 108.6│ 6.2│ 10.4│
├─────────┼─────────┼────────┼────────┤
│End of September │ 112.6│ 5.9│ 10.3│
├─────────┼─────────┼────────┼────────┤
│End of October │ 109.5│ 5.7│ 10.1│
├─────────┼─────────┼────────┼────────┤
│End of November │ 92.9│ 4.9│ 9.5│
├─────────┼─────────┼────────┼────────┤
│End of December │ 81.7│ 2.7│ 8.1│
├─────────┼─────────┼────────┼────────┤
│End of January 2026 │ 75.3│ 3.6│ 7.8│
├─────────┼─────────┼────────┼────────┤
│End of February │ 60.6│ 4.5│ 7.8│
└─────────┴─────────┴────────┴────────┘
Domestic virtual asset holdings steadily increased from 50.6 trillion won at the end of August 2024, peaking at 121.8 trillion won in January last year, then decreased to less than half by the end of February this year.
The daily average virtual asset transaction volume also increased from 2.7 trillion won at the end of August 2024 to 17.1 trillion won at the end of December of the same year. However, it only reached 4.5 trillion won by the end of February this year.
Korean Won deposits, considered as standby funds for investment at virtual asset exchanges, were around 10.7 trillion won at the end of December 2024 but decreased to 7.8 trillion won as of the end of February this year.
On the other hand, stablecoin holdings gradually increased from 88.5 billion won at the end of July 2024, peaking at 872.3 billion won at the end of December last year. As of the end of February this year, it maintained a relatively large scale of 607.1 billion won.
The decrease in domestic virtual asset holdings and transaction volumes is attributed to the boom in domestic and international stock markets, the bearish trend in the virtual asset market, and a general decline in valuation.
Furthermore, the increase in stablecoin holdings is evaluated to be based on the expanded demand for dollar-based investment assets due to high exchange rates and rising interest in stablecoins.
Hong Sung-wook, a researcher at NH Investment & Securities, explained, "The decrease in domestic virtual asset holdings was largely influenced by the movement of investment funds due to the booming domestic stock market and the decline in virtual asset prices."
Kim Min-seung, head of Korbit Research Center, said, "Fluctuations in the won-dollar exchange rate seem to have affected (stablecoin) investment demand. Since most coins were weak in overseas exchanges, it can also be seen that investment funds that went overseas have returned to Korea."
┌─────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Monthly Domestic Stablecoin Holdings (Unit: 100 million won) │
│ ※ Source: Bank of Korea data, provided by Rep. Cha Kyu-geun's office. │
├──────────────────┬──────────────────┤
│ Period │ Holdings │
├──────────────────┼──────────────────┤
│End of July 2024 │ 885│
├──────────────────┼──────────────────┤
│End of August │ 1,134│
├──────────────────┼──────────────────┤
│End of September │ 1,687│
├──────────────────┼──────────────────┤
│End of October │ 752│
├──────────────────┼──────────────────┤
│End of November │ 2,994│
├──────────────────┼──────────────────┤
│End of December │ 4,036│
├──────────────────┼──────────────────┤
│End of January │ 2,782│
├──────────────────┼──────────────────┤
│End of February │ 4,602│
├──────────────────┼──────────────────┤
│End of March │ 4,856│
├──────────────────┼──────────────────┤
│End of April │ 4,625│
├──────────────────┼──────────────────┤
│End of May │ 3,288│
├──────────────────┼──────────────────┤
│End of June │ 5,798│
├──────────────────┼──────────────────┤
│End of July │ 5,355│
├──────────────────┼──────────────────┤
│End of August │ 5,678│
├──────────────────┼──────────────────┤
│End of September │ 5,413│
├──────────────────┼──────────────────┤
│End of October │ 5,785│
├──────────────────┼──────────────────┤
│End of November │ 7,265│
├──────────────────┼──────────────────┤
│End of December │ 8,723│
├──────────────────┼──────────────────┤
│End of January 2026 │ 5,310│
├──────────────────┼──────────────────┤
│End of February │ 6,071│
└──────────────────┴──────────────────┘
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