South Korean crypto exchanges saw a sharp drop in profits during the first half of 2026 as trading activity, customer deposits and the value of crypto held on local platforms all declined.
Operating profits fell 78% to KRW81.6 billion, compared with KRW374.8 billion in the previous six-month period. The data came from the Korea Financial Intelligence Unit (KoFIU), which reviewed 26 registered virtual asset service providers between January 1 and June 30.
Average daily crypto trading volume dropped 44%, falling from KRW5.4 trillion to KRW3.1 trillion. Exchange sales also fell 41% during the period.
Customer deposits in Korean won declined 35%, from KRW8.1 trillion to KRW5.2 trillion. The total value of crypto held through domestic exchanges also dropped 33%, from KRW87.2 trillion at the end of 2025 to KRW58.9 trillion by the end of June.
Despite the weaker market activity, the number of accounts eligible for trading increased slightly. KoFIU counted 11.175 million tradable accounts at the end of June, up 0.4% from 11.126 million six months earlier.
Accounts holding less than KRW1 million in crypto increased by around 370,000 to 8.63 million. This means the number of accounts grew even while trading activity, deposits and exchange earnings moved lower.
Korean won-based exchanges continued to dominate the market. They held KRW58.5 trillion of the KRW58.9 trillion total crypto value recorded in the country. Coin-only exchanges held only about KRW330 billion.
Trading volume was also heavily concentrated on won-based platforms. These exchanges recorded average daily volume of about KRW3.1 trillion, while coin-only platforms handled around KRW380 million.
The number of crypto assets available in Korea also fell 5% to 673. Assets listed on only one exchange dropped from 296 to 234.
These single-exchange assets represented only about KRW600 billion, or 1% of the total domestic crypto market. KoFIU said 93 of those assets had market values below KRW100 million, which can leave them more exposed to low liquidity and large price movements.
The weakness in crypto trading also continued into the summer. In July, average daily trading across Upbit, Bithumb, Coinone, Korbit and Gopax fell to about KRW597.8 billion. That was only around 1.59% of the KRW37.6 trillion average daily trading volume on the KOSPI.
South Korean crypto holdings had also fallen significantly earlier in the year. Data from the Bank of Korea showed domestic crypto holdings dropping from KRW121.8 trillion in January 2025 to KRW60.6 trillion by February 2026.
Still, crypto trading activity has not fallen continuously. During a Bitcoin rally in August, Upbit’s daily trading volume jumped 273% to about $1.84 billion, while Bithumb’s volume increased 132.9% to around $934.9 million.
Crypto transfers outside domestic exchanges also declined. External transfers fell 41% to KRW62.8 trillion from KRW107.3 trillion in the previous six months.
Around KRW9.5 trillion of those transfers were covered by the travel rule. Another KRW51.7 trillion, or about 83%, involved approved overseas entities and personal wallets.
Transfers below KRW1 million represented only 2% of the total value, although they involved about 63% of users making external transfers.
Crypto custody and wallet companies also saw weaker results. Their customer accounts increased 2% to 792, but assets under custody fell 25% to KRW230.4 billion.
These businesses reported a KRW18.6 billion operating loss in the first half of 2026, compared with a KRW9.3 billion loss in the previous six months.
Employment across the crypto sector remained mostly stable. Korean crypto companies had 2,021 employees at the end of June, only 10 fewer than six months earlier. Anti-money-laundering staff increased slightly to 213.
The weaker first-half numbers come as South Korea prepares for another major change in its crypto market. From January 1, 2027, the government plans to apply a 22% tax on annual crypto gains above KRW2.5 million, with tax authorities working on implementation rules for domestic exchanges.
