On overseas virtual asset exchanges, the cumulative transaction value of perpetual futures linked to domestic stocks such as Samsung Electronics(005930) and SK hynix(000660) reached about 307 trillion won from February to August this year. As domestic virtual asset exchanges remain bound by regulation, some analysts say the gap in market competitiveness with overseas exchanges will widen further.
According to Web3-focused research firm Tiger Research on the 31st, the transaction value this month of perpetual futures on overseas virtual asset exchanges based on domestic stocks is 166 trillion won. That is about four times larger than the 42 trillion won in transaction value at the five major domestic virtual asset exchanges (Upbit, Bithumb, Korbit, Coinone, GOPAX) over the same period.
For the perpetual futures linked to "KORU," a triple-leveraged exchange-traded fund (ETF) on domestic equities listed on the U.S. stock market, this month's transaction value is about $24.1 billion (about 33 trillion won). The KORU ETF's own transaction value over the same period was $8.9 billion (about 12 trillion won), about three times smaller.
As offshore trading expands, there are calls for domestic virtual asset exchanges to revamp regulations and systems. Overseas, the infrastructure for virtual asset trading (infrastructure) and stocks, commodities, and tokenized Government Bonds is already moving to connect within a single market.
By contrast, at domestic virtual asset exchanges, everything other than spot trading is illegal. From 2022 to the end of July this year (Bithumb as of Aug. 18), these exchanges newly listed a total of 1,236 altcoins (Altcoin, all virtual assets other than Bitcoin), including duplicates. Over the same period, 430 altcoins were delisted as trading support ended. Because of regulation, they cannot create new products and have no choice but to boost volumes through short-term speculative listings.
The domestic virtual asset industry believes that measures such as: ▲ corporate participation in the virtual asset market ▲ institutionalization of derivatives ▲ won-based stablecoin payment and settlement infrastructure must be put in place to narrow the competitiveness gap with overseas exchanges.
Cho Yoon-seong, a senior researcher at Tiger Research, said, "Infrastructure for trading traditional financial assets is being built on the basis of 24/7 trading and stablecoin settlement. We need to see in which market global demand for Korean assets is being accumulated."