Chainalysis reported that cryptocurrency exercise attributed to South Korea reached $449.1 billion within the 12 months ending in June 2026, up 12.3% from the earlier interval and the best in East Asia, based on a report revealed on October 5. The rise was pushed by an increasing trade ecosystem and retail investor demand for AI-related tokens.
The figures replicate on-chain asset flows linked to South Korean customers, reasonably than the quantity of crypto they maintain. Over the identical interval, exercise throughout East Asia declined barely.
Korea Pulls Forward of Regional Rivals
Japan, the second-largest market within the area, recorded $228.3 billion in cryptocurrency exercise. Hong Kong was subsequent with $192.2 billion, whereas China and Taiwan reached $176.3 billion and $140.4 billion, respectively, based on Chainalysis.
In South Korea, exchange-related exercise grew by 16.3%, including $51.1 billion in inflows in comparison with the earlier interval. Many of the development was nonetheless led by retail buyers, whereas main monetary establishments have but to take part available in the market on a broad scale.
AI Tokens Lead Korea’s Thematic Buying and selling
Tokens linked to AI initiatives or infrastructure accounted for about 18% of won-denominated buying and selling quantity in June 2026. At this share, AI tokens surpassed fee token teams similar to XRP and led thematic asset classes within the South Korean market.
In Japan, AI tokens accounted for simply 0.91% of yen-denominated buying and selling quantity in the identical month, making South Korea’s share 19.5 occasions increased. Worldcoin recorded the best quantity at $7.41 billion over the complete survey interval, adopted by Sahara AI at $3.2 billion, Virtuals Protocol at $2.7 billion, Bio Protocol at $2 billion, and NEAR Protocol at $1.7 billion.
The group of favored tokens additionally shifted quickly. VIRTUAL and KAITO, two outstanding names in 2025, gave method to WLD and SAHARA within the new interval. In response to Chainalysis, this shift displays the excessive velocity of capital rotation and aggressive buying and selling depth of South Korean retail buyers towards AI-themed property.
What the $449 Billion Determine Measures
Chainalysis calculates the dimensions of exercise in South Korea by aggregating asset flows into crypto companies, transactions between native private wallets, and property despatched from overseas to South Korean customers’ wallets. Tracked companies embrace centralized exchanges, decentralized exchanges, institutional platforms, lending protocols, and blockchain bridges.
For companies working throughout a number of nations, Chainalysis allocates capital flows based mostly on the share of net site visitors from every market, then adjusts for revenue variations between nations. This calculation focuses on person location reasonably than the place the enterprise is registered.
Visitors information might not totally exclude VPNs and bots, and transactions with unidentifiable nations should not counted. Due to this fact, the $449.1 billion determine is a conservative estimate of exercise over 12 months, reasonably than a snapshot of asset worth at a single cut-off date.
Home Buying and selling Slows in First Half
A survey of 26 digital asset service suppliers revealed by the South Korean Monetary Companies Fee on October 1 confirmed that the home market weakened within the first half of 2026. The full worth of property on native exchanges fell 33%, from 87.2 trillion gained on the finish of 2025 to 58.9 trillion gained on the finish of June.
Common day by day buying and selling quantity dropped 44% to three.1 trillion gained. Buyer gained deposits fell 35% to five.2 trillion gained, whereas trade working earnings dropped 78%.
Even so, the variety of accounts eligible for buying and selling nonetheless rose 0.4% to 11.175 million. Amongst these, 8.63 million accounts, or greater than 77%, held property value lower than a million gained, indicating that almost all of customers take part on a small scale.
The Chainalysis estimate covers cumulative exercise over 12 months and consists of worldwide companies utilized by South Koreans. The regulator’s survey solely tracks property and transactions at registered home suppliers within the first half of 2026.
Korea Phases In Company Crypto Entry
South Korea started opening its crypto market to authorized entities in phases after regulators introduced a roadmap in February 2025. Beginning in June of that yr, sure non-profit organizations and exchanges have been allowed to open real-name verified accounts to promote crypto property and convert them into money. Broader direct funding rights for firms stay topic to pilot packages and inside management necessities.
Taxation on digital asset features is scheduled to take impact in 2027 following an additional two-year postponement by the federal government. A broader regulatory framework for digital property, together with guidelines for stablecoins, stays underneath improvement.
Underneath the present schedule, crypto capital features tax and the enlargement of company entry may collectively affect the market beginning in 2027. These modifications come as crypto exercise in South Korea stays predominantly pushed by retail buyers.
