Chainalysis says South Korea's crypto economy hit $449 billion, the largest in East Asia

South Korea had the largest crypto economy in East Asia, blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis said in a regional report published on Oct. 5. The firm estimated South Korea's crypto economy at $449 billion for the period from July 2025 to June 2026, up 12.3% from a year earlier and ahead of Japan, Hong Kong and mainland China.

Chainalysis said East Asia's crypto economy as a whole contracted modestly over the same period, in line with the global bear market, but the trend varied by country. South Korea kept growing as its domestic exchange ecosystem expanded 16.3%. In the firm's grassroots adoption index released on Sept. 23, South Korea ranked fifth among 117 countries, behind Brazil, the United States, Nigeria and Japan.

AI tokens top Korean won trading

The report singled out South Korean traders' focus on artificial intelligence (AI) tokens. As of June 2026, AI cryptocurrencies were the largest thematic category by share of Korean won trading volume, ahead of payment tokens such as XRP. Chainalysis said AI-crypto trading in South Korea grew alongside the rise of SK Hynix, the memory chipmaker that has been leading the country's stock market.

• Worldcoin (WLD): $7.41 billion
• Sahara (SAHARA): $3.2 billion
• Virtuals (VIRTUAL): $2.7 billion
• Bio (BIO): $2 billion
• Near (NEAR): $1.7 billion

The figures are Korean won trading volumes over the study period. AI tokens accounted for 0.91% of yen trading in June, meaning the won share was 19.5 times the yen rate. The euro (1.02%), Brazilian real (0.20%) and British pound (0.03%) were also far lower. The leaders also changed within a year: Virtuals and Kaito (KAITO) led in 2025, while Worldcoin and Sahara took over this year. Chainalysis said Korean retail traders rotate through the category faster and more aggressively than those in any other market it tracks.

A tax-free year, with 2027 as the turning point

The report cited taxation as one reason South Korea's market remains driven by retail investors. There was no tax on crypto gains throughout the study period. A 22% tax on crypto profits is scheduled to take effect at the start of 2027, but experts interviewed for the report said the National Assembly has delayed it before and could do so again.

The report described institutional participation as only just beginning. The Financial Services Commission (FSC) announced a roadmap in February 2025 to open the market to nonprofits, exchanges, listed companies and registered professional investment corporations, and the government only began easing a longstanding ban on corporate crypto trading in February 2026. The report said investment-driven corporate participation has yet to scale in practice. Jinhyeong Jo, a senior examiner at Korea's Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU), made a similar point in the report: "The outcome of the National Assembly's discussions could have a meaningful impact on retail investor demand and market participation."

"Every major bank and securities firm now has a digital asset team, and most are running stablecoin, tokenization, or custody pilots."

Francis Kang, executive director of Korea Blockchain Week (KBW)

Hong Kong goes institutional, Japan turns to DEXs

Neighboring markets took different paths. In Hong Kong, institutional platforms such as over-the-counter (OTC) desks, custody providers and market makers received 87% more than a year earlier. Their share of Hong Kong's service inflows reached 16%, up from around 9% two years earlier, while no other East Asian market topped 6%. Hong Kong issued its first stablecoin licenses in 2026.

Japanese users moved to decentralized exchanges (DEXs). DEX inflows rose 36%, and DEXs accounted for 34.5% of inflows to crypto services in Japan, the highest in the region. In China, where crypto exchanges remain banned, peer-to-peer (P2P) activity made up 59.1% of the crypto economy. Chainalysis said its China figure is a lower bound based on available data and the true size may be higher.

All five AI tokens trade on Upbit's won market

Worldcoin, the top AI token by won volume in the report, traded at 756 won on Upbit as of 3:30 p.m. KST on Oct. 6, down 3.0% from the previous close, with 24-hour trading value of about 25.2 billion won. At the same time, Sahara traded at 12.4 won and bitcoin at 115.5 million won. All five AI tokens named in the report are listed on Upbit's Korean won market.