1 in 5 South Koreans Still Investing in Crypto – Which Coins Are They Trading?

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Tim Alper

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Tim Alper

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Tim Alper is a British journalist and features writer who has worked at Cryptonews.com since 2018. He has written for media outlets such as the BBC, the Guardian, and Chosun Ilbo. He has also worked...

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June 26, 2023

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A new survey has found that around one in five South Koreans are still investing in crypto – in spite of the collapse of the FTX exchange and the downturn in global markets.

Per News1, the survey was conducted nationwide this month by the research firm Consumer Insight. The company spoke to 2,000 people aged 20 to 69 and found that 18.2% of respondents said they were currently continuing to trade or were HODLing coins in preparation for trading moves.

Among crypto traders, Bitcoin (BTC) was the number one pick, with 46.1% stating they favor BTC. Ethereum (ETH) narrowly edged out XRP into second place, with 25.9% and 24.5%, respectively. Almost 17% stated that they prefer to trade in Dogecoin (DOGE).

Just over 10% stated they had dabbled with crypto trading in the past but were not currently in possession of any coins. But almost 72% stated that they had never bought any form of crypto.

Over a quarter of the people who stated that they traded coins were aged in their thirties, while 23% were aged 40-49. Just under 20% were in their twenties. Almost 6 in 10 said they had spent less than $746 on coins and crypto trading. But almost 12% said they had spent upwards of $7,460.

Regardless, trading volumes are continuing to fall on domestic exchanges. The market-leading crypto exchange Upbit recorded an annual 24-hour trading volume high of almost $10.3 billion worth of transactions on March 31 this year, per CoinGecko figures. That figure has shrunk to a 24-hour average of just over $1 billion in mid-November.

South Korean Crypto Traders: Business as Usual?

South Korean exchanges have thus far emerged relatively unscathed from the collapse of FTX – with liquidity issues not yet reported at most of the nation’s largest trading platforms, although one platform (Gopax) has suffered from withdrawal issues due to a partnership deal with Genesis.

Other than a short-lived peak in trades on November 10, it appears that many domestic traders are continuing to buy and sell coins on platforms such as Upbit and its closest rival, Bithumb.