South Korea Tops East Asia Crypto Economy at $449 Billion

South Korea emerged as the leader in East Asia’s crypto economy from July 2025 to June 2026, with a total value of $449.1 billion, marking a 12.3% increase. This growth was driven by retail investors shifting into AI-linked tokens such as Worldcoin ($7.41 billion), SAHARA ($3.2 billion), and VIRTUAL ($2.7 billion). The surge in AI cryptocurrencies outpaced traditional payment tokens like XRP, with Korean won trading volumes in AI assets reaching 19.5 times Japan’s yen rate. The report from Chainalysis also noted that a delayed 22% tax on crypto gains until 2027 and eased corporate trading restrictions from February 2026 contributed to this trend.

Hong Kong, with a $192.2 billion crypto economy, is increasingly defined by institutional activity. Institutional platforms, including custody and prime brokerage services, accounted for 16% of inflows, nearly triple the regional average. The city also saw $24 billion in business-to-business transfers. In contrast, Japan’s $228.3 billion market is characterized by retail activity moving on-chain, with decentralized exchanges (DEXs) holding a 34.5% share of services and activity up over 200% since 2022.

Despite its ban on crypto services, China maintained a $176.3 billion crypto economy, dominated by peer-to-peer (P2P) transactions. Stablecoins in China turned over 33.2 times annually, significantly higher than the global average. The report highlighted a 43-fold increase in unique wallets sending stablecoin P2P transactions between Q1 2024 and Q2 2026, linked to the expansion of the social credit system into finance.

Chainalysis cautioned that East Asia’s crypto landscape could shift significantly if South Korea’s tax takes effect and corporate access broadens. The findings come amid a record year for crypto thefts, including a $387 million exchange hack attributed to North Korea.