Korea's virtual asset market was found to account for about 30% of global volume. Most domestic investors are investing in altcoins (all virtual assets except Bitcoin).
On the 16th, according to virtual asset research company Kaiko, the share of altcoins among domestic retail investors reached 85%. The shares of Bitcoin and Ethereum were just 9% and 6%, respectively.
Korea's weekly volume reached $26 billion (about 38 trillion won). Japan's monthly volume is in the range of $20 billion to $30 billion. Japan's volume is smaller than Korea's, but Bitcoin market liquidity was found to be 3 to 5 times higher than in Korea. Kaiko analyzed, "While Korea accounts for a large share of the global market in terms of transaction size, Japan is more stable in terms of Bitcoin liquidity."
Korean investors have a high share of altcoins, but about 40% of altcoins are trading at all-time lows. This surpasses the 37.8% seen right after the bankruptcy of FTX, which was considered one of the world's three largest virtual asset exchanges in 2022.