[Alpha Biz= Reporter Kim Minyoung] In the latter half of last year, the daily average trading volume of virtual assets such as Bitcoin in South Korea reached a staggering 3.6 trillion won. The total amount of funds deposited in exchanges, considered dormant trading capital, nearly approached 5 trillion won. Moreover, the number of individuals who invested more than 100 million won in virtual assets exceeded 80,000.
The Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) released the results of its survey on the state of virtual asset operators in the second half of last year on the 16th. The survey covered 29 entities, including 22 exchanges and 7 wallet service providers, from July to December last year.
According to the survey findings, the daily average trading volume of virtual assets totaled 3.6 trillion won in the latter half of last year, representing a 24% increase (700 billion won) compared to the first half (2.9 trillion won). This increase was primarily driven by a 24% surge in trading volume in the Korean won market. Coin market trading volume, on the other hand, decreased by 44%. Meanwhile, deposits in Korean won increased by 21%, from 4 trillion won to 4.9 trillion won during the same period.
Despite a decrease in the number of virtual asset types from 1,399 to 1,333, the market capitalization surged by 53% (15.2 trillion won), from 28.4 trillion won to 43.6 trillion won. Positive factors such as price increases contributed to this growth. For instance, the price of Bitcoin, which stood at around $34,770 at the end of June, soared by 39% to $43,365 by the end of December.
The number of users also increased by 390,000 to reach 6.45 million. The age group most active in virtual asset transactions was in their 30s, with 4.55 million users holding virtual assets worth less than 1 million won. The majority (65%) of users held virtual assets worth less than 500,000 won, while 810,000 users (1.3%) held assets worth more than 100 million won, including assets deposited in Korean won.
The price volatility of virtual assets stood at 61.5%, significantly higher than that of the stock market. During the same period, the volatility of the KOSPI index was 14.5%, and that of the KOSDAQ was 23.2%. Two coin market operators and two wallet and custody service providers closed their doors in the latter half of last year.
AlphaBIZ Kim Minyoung(kimmy@alphabiz.co.kr)
