South Korea's Crypto Market Freeze: Operating Profit Plunges 78%

South Korea's virtual asset market has been severely impacted by the decline in cryptocurrency prices and trading activity. According to the '2026 First-Half Virtual Asset Business Operator Survey' released by the Korea Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) and the Financial Supervisory Service, operating profit at South Korean virtual asset exchanges plummeted 78% in six months to 81.6 billion won ($60 million). This sharp decline was driven by a 44% drop in average daily trading volume to 3.1 trillion won ($2.3 billion) and a 41% fall in revenue to 576.8 billion won ($424.5 million).

The price of Bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, fell 33% from $87,509 at the end of last year to $58,559 at the end of June this year. The global virtual asset market capitalization also declined 28% to 3,161 trillion won ($2.3 trillion). Won-denominated deposits, or standby trading funds, dropped 35% to 5.2 trillion won ($3.8 billion).

The KRW Market took the brunt of the damage, with operating profit at KRW Market exchanges falling 74% from 395.8 billion won ($291.3 million) to 101.8 billion won ($74.9 million). Coin Market exchanges recorded an operating loss of 20.2 billion won ($14.9 million). The number of virtual assets circulating in South Korea fell 5% to 673 (excluding duplicates), with single-exchange-listed assets declining 21%.