South Korea’s registered cryptocurrency exchanges suffered a severe earnings contraction in the first half of 2026, with combined operating profit falling 78% to 81.6 billion won ($60.9 million) from 374.8 billion won in the previous six months, according to a Korea Financial Intelligence Unit survey published on 1 October.
The survey covered 26 virtual asset service providers, including 17 exchanges and nine custody and wallet operators. Average daily trading volume across the five won-denominated exchanges fell 44% to 3.1 trillion won, while total crypto market capitalisation held on domestic platforms dropped 33% to 58.9 trillion won from 87.2 trillion won at the end of 2025.
Won-denominated customer deposits at Upbit, Bithumb, Coinone, Korbit and Gopax declined 35% to 5.2 trillion won, and combined sales across all 26 providers fell 41%. The downturn came despite trading-eligible accounts edging up 0.4% to 11.175 million, indicating that users kept accounts open even as activity dried up.
The profit collapse coincided with a powerful rally in South Korean equities. The benchmark KOSPI index rose more than 114% over the 12 months to July 2026, drawing retail speculative capital away from digital assets. A separate CoinGecko analysis found that average daily volume across the five won-based exchanges fell roughly 89% year on year by July 2026, from $2.82 billion to $305 million.
Custody and wallet providers fared even worse, with operating losses widening from 9.3 billion won to 18.6 billion won, while assets under custody fell 25% to 230.4 billion won. The figures underline how heavily South Korean crypto revenue depends on retail trading fees, with won-denominated platforms accounting for 58.5 trillion won of the 58.9 trillion won total market capitalisation.
The slump arrives less than three months before South Korea’s 22% tax on annual crypto gains above 2.5 million won takes effect on 1 January 2027. The Ministry of Economy and Finance has rejected further delays, and exchanges that rely almost entirely on retail spot trading commissions now face a tax regime that could further suppress volumes. The number of unique crypto assets listed on Korean platforms also declined 5% to 673, while single-exchange-only listings dropped to 234 from 296, showing consolidation of traded tokens.
