Hello, I am Jun Ji-hye, a reporter at The Korea Times. I primarily cover financial authorities and write articles on a wide range of topics related to finance and capital markets. If you have any information to share, feel free to email me at jjh@koreatimes.co.kr, and I will review it carefully. I am committed to always doing my best to communicate with readers through high-quality articles.
Delayed corporate access fuels frustration in Korea's shrinking crypto market
An illustration of the virtual cryptocurrency bitcoin / Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul
By Jun Ji-hye
Concerns are growing within the domestic virtual asset market as the release of guidelines allowing corporations to open bank accounts for cryptocurrency transactions has been delayed beyond its planned timeline, industry officials said Monday.
The delay has intensified frustration toward financial authorities amid a sharp slump in trading across the domestic market, as exchanges have viewed the entry of corporate investors as the most effective way to revive transaction volumes.
The Financial Services Commission (FSC) allowed nonprofit entities such as social welfare organizations and universities to open accounts for virtual asset transactions in the second quarter of last year. At the time, the country’s top financial regulator said it would extend the policy to for-profit corporations in the latter half of 2025.
In preparation, major exchanges including Upbit and Bithumb formed dedicated corporate service teams, launched specialized webpages and hosted offline seminars to court potential corporate clients in advance.
Contrary to those expectations, the process has been delayed, with financial authorities citing staffing shortages as they focus on preparations for the tentatively titled Digital Asset Basic Act.
“The delay in releasing the guidelines for corporate virtual asset accounts stems from the substantial workload involved in drafting the new legislation,” an FSC official said. “While we are reviewing the guidelines in parallel, our limited workforce means resources are concentrated on priority tasks, making it difficult to specify a clear timeline.”
Industry officials have widely regarded corporate participation as a crucial catalyst for both qualitative and quantitative growth in the virtual asset sector amid the market downturn.
Data from cryptocurrency data provider CoinGecko showed that the combined 24-hour trading volume of Korea’s five major won-based cryptocurrency exchanges — Upbit, Bithumb, Coinone, Korbit and Gopax — totaled $2.39 billion as of 1 p.m. Friday. This represented an about 82 percent drop from the $13 billion recorded on the same day a year earlier.
Separate data from CoinMarketCap showed that the five exchanges recorded an average daily trading volume of around $1.8 billion in December, about one-seventh of the $12.1 billion logged in December 2024.
The prolonged slowdown in trading has also weighed on exchange profitability.
Dunamu, the operator of the country’s largest crypto exchange, Upbit, reported revenue of 516.2 billion won ($351 million) and operating profit of 396.3 billion won in the first quarter of last year. In the third quarter, those figures had fallen to 385.9 billion won and 235.3 billion won, respectively.
Industry watchers say results likely deteriorated further in the fourth quarter as the downturn persisted.
They stressed that building an institutional framework is essential even during a market slump, noting that once conditions improve, corporations would be able to enter the market immediately and generate strong synergies.
“The domestic virtual asset market is heavily dominated by retail investors. Allowing corporate participation would inject substantial liquidity, ease excessive volatility and enhance overall stability,” an official at a crypto exchange said. “Unlike individual investors, corporations tend to manage large pools of capital over the long term, helping exchanges secure stable fee income while fostering a healthier investment ecosystem aligned with global standards.”