Crypto Trading Volume Surpasses South Korea’s Stock Market

In a significant shift in South Korea’s financial landscape, the daily trading volume of cryptocurrencies has overtaken that of traditional equities, signaling a growing appetite for digital assets among local investors.According to a report by Chosun Daily, the total market capitalization of cryptocurrencies in South Korea recently exceeded 100 trillion won ($74.8 billion), reflecting a surge in digital asset engagement that now outpaces the country’s stock market in daily transaction volumes.By December, the total market value of cryptocurrencies stood at around $70.2 billion. Yet what captured attention was the rise in daily trading volume, which grew by approximately $1.4 billion more than that of the country’s stock exchanges, whose total market cap hovers around $1.6 trillion.South Korea’s crypto exchanges saw an average daily trading volume of $12 billion in December—roughly 17% of their total holdings. This marked a sharp increase compared to earlier months, with trading volumes jumping from $2.38 billion in October to $10.4 billion in November.Remarkably, digital asset trading in December outstripped the combined average daily volume of the nation’s two main stock exchanges: the Korea Exchange (KRX) and the KOSPI Composite Index, which recorded $10.7 billion in daily trades.By the end of 2023, the five largest cryptocurrency exchanges in South Korea—Upbit, Bithumb, Coinone, Korbit, and GOPAX—collectively held around $73 billion in digital assets, according to the Bank of Korea’s 2024 report on payment and settlement systems.A mix of international developments has helped fuel this market boom. These include the re-election of U.S. President Donald Trump, a vocal supporter of digital currencies, the implementation of the EU’s Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulations, and the greenlighting of spot crypto exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in both Hong Kong and the United States.In November, the total market cap of digital assets in South Korea surpassed $70 billion for the first time—nearly double the $40.7 billion recorded at the end of October, further underscoring the rapid growth and investor enthusiasm sweeping the nation’s crypto space.