1 in 5 Koreans invest in crypto assets: survey

An electronic board shows real-time trading information at Bithumb, a cryptocurrency exchange in southern Seoul, May 12. Yonhap

Nearly 20 percent of Korea’s population invests in crypto assets, with those in their 30s and 40s accounting for more than half of investors, a survey showed Tuesday.

The Financial Services Commission (FSC) survey showed 9.7 million traders across the 17 cryptocurrency exchanges nationwide in the second half of 2024.

The figure represented about a 25 percent increase from the first half of 2024, according to the FSC.

Of the 9.7 million, 9.67 million were from the top five domestic virtual asset exchanges — Upbit, Bithumb, Coinone, Korbit and Gopax.

Traders in their 30s accounted for 29 percent of all cryptocurrency exchange users, while those in their 40s were another 27 percent.

“They accordingly made up more than half of the entire cryptocurrency investors,” the FSC explained.

Those younger than 20 accounted for 19 percent, followed by those in their 50s at 18 percent, and those in their 60s or older at 7 percent.

The survey also showed that the number of individuals whose investment exceeds 10 million won ($7,100) is increasing.

A total of 1.21 million traders invested more than 10 million in the second half of 2024, marking a 2 percentage point rise from the previous half.

There were 220,000 investors with over 100 million won, up from 136,000, over the same time period.

Correspondingly, the market capitalization of the virtual asset market reached 107.7 trillion won at the end of 2024.