Korea's Crypto Exchanges Hold Hundreds of Thousands of Foreign Accounts

The number of foreign nationals with Korean crypto accounts has reached 560,000, but only 90 are active users. According to data from the Financial Supervisory Service, the five major cryptocurrency exchanges - Upbit, Bithumb, Coinone, DigitalX and GOPAX - had a combined 566,352 accounts held by foreign nationals.

These accounts were opened before foreign investment was effectively banned in 2021. The majority of these accounts are inactive, with only 517 having completed know-your-customer verification and just 90 actively trading or engaging in other activities on the exchanges last month.

Bithumb had the largest number of foreign-held accounts at 484,846, followed by Upbit at 42,449. Industry officials are calling for regulatory changes to allow foreign investors to participate, citing benefits such as more efficient price discovery and strengthened competitiveness of Korean crypto exchanges.