Bitcoin Slump Drags Down Market Cap and Trading Volume, While KRW Deposits Reach 8 Trillion Won [Crypto Briefing]

[Financial News] In the second half of last year, South Korea's virtual asset market saw its total market capitalization and trading volume contract across the board, following price declines in major assets such as Bitcoin. In contrast, KRW deposits held as idle funds and the number of user accounts both increased. Financial authorities also cautioned that many single-listed virtual assets have market capitalizations of less than 100 million won, urging investors to exercise caution.
According to the "Second Half 2025 Survey on the Current Status of Virtual Asset Service Providers" released on the 25th by the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) and the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS), the domestic virtual asset market capitalization stood at 87.2 trillion won at the end of last year. This represents an 8% decline from 95.1 trillion won in the first half.
The decisive factor behind this downturn was the drop in the price of Bitcoin, the market bellwether. Bitcoin fell about 18%, from 107,135 dollars at the end of June last year to 87,509 dollars at the end of December. As a result, the average daily trading volume in Korea also shrank 15%, from 6.4 trillion won in the first half to 5.4 trillion won in the second half.
Despite the market contraction, the user base continued to expand. The number of tradable user accounts that completed know-your-customer (KYC) verification reached 11.13 million, an increase of 360,000 (3%) from the first half. Men in their 30s accounted for the largest share by age group. KRW deposits also rose sharply, with user deposits climbing 31% from 6.2 trillion won in the first half to 8.1 trillion won in the second half.
The decline in trading volume translated into weaker business performance for service providers. Operating profit and loss at 18 virtual asset exchanges, including both the KRW Market and coin market, totaled 380.7 billion won in the second half, down 38% from 617.8 billion won in the first half. The KRW Market generated 395.8 billion won in profit, while the coin market recorded a loss of 15.1 billion won.
Funds also remained heavily concentrated in the KRW Market. A total of 99.6% of market capitalization, or 86.9 trillion won, was concentrated in the KRW Market, while the coin market accounted for only 0.4%.
Financial authorities further warned about the risks of "single-listed virtual assets." Of the 712 virtual assets traded domestically, 296, or 41%, were listed on only one specific exchange. Among these single-listed assets, 128 tokens (43%) had market capitalizations of 100 million won or less, classifying them as very small-cap assets.

elikim@fnnews.com Kim Mi-hee Reporter