South Korea's top five crypto exchanges plummeted 88% in a year, and Korbit was forced to sell assets to maintain operations

Comparatively, according to a report by Korea's Joongang Ilbo, the five largest Korean won virtual asset exchanges have a total daily transaction volume of about 412.7 billion won, down 88% from a year ago. The total global virtual asset market value simultaneously shrunk by 41% to $2.322 trillion. The country's crypto industry leader Dunamu's first-quarter revenue and operating profit declined 55% and 78%, respectively, year over year.

Small and medium exchanges are in an even more difficult situation. Coinone, Korbit, and Gopax, which recorded operating losses last year, are expected to continue to lose money this year. Korbit has sold its holdings three times this year, selling 15 bitcoins and 60 ethers within 10 days of this month, receiving approximately KRW 1.6 billion in cash. The director of Tiger Research said that it can currently be viewed as the “second crypto winter,” and the total crypto market value has shrunk drastically, and new projects are almost invisible.

Despite the downturn in the market, the pace of introduction of blockchain by institutions is accelerating, and the core direction is tokenized assets and stablecoins. Major brokerage firms such as Future Asset have recently successively acquired shares in exchanges, and the country's government has also repeatedly expressed its determination to advance legislation on the Basic Law on Digital Assets, reflecting that medium- to long-term growth potential is still promising.