South Korea's Crypto Market Suffers Sharpest Decline Globally

South Korea's crypto trading market is experiencing a significant decline, with monthly turnover plummeting 62% from January. This drop in domestic spot trading has left exchanges facing weaker fee revenue and potentially their worst-ever quarterly loss.

The trend stands in stark contrast to South Korea's stock market, where equities have seen increased demand. According to data from the Bank of Korea, customer deposits at the five largest crypto exchanges fell 29.5% to 5.5 trillion won ($3.99 billion) in May from 7.8 trillion won ($5.65 billion) in January.

Kim Kyu-jin, CEO of Tiger Research, attributes the domestic market's decline to its structural dependence on retail investors and altcoin trading. He notes that overseas markets have a buffer of institutional flows and Bitcoin exchange-traded funds supporting volume.