Survey Shows South Koreans Increased Crypto Holdings by 64% Last Year

Over the last few years, South Korea has become a hotspot for cryptocurrencies and the region captures a large amount of the world’s digital asset trade volume. A survey published on April 20 by the Korea Financial Investment Association shows that the average South Korean cryptocurrency trader has increased their crypto holdings by 64.2% over the last year.

Also read: Central Bank Digital Currencies Take Center Stage at IMF Spring Meetings

South Korean Crypto Investors Increase Holdings

The South Korean news outlet Arirang Daily News revealed the results of a new survey conducted by the Korea Financial Investment Association (KOFIA). The self-regulatory organization’s poll surveyed 2,500 South Korean residents who invested in cryptocurrencies like BCH, ETH, and BTC. Surveys help bolster KOFIA’s goal of ensuring fair trading practices are taking place and enables them to monitor South Korea’s capital market and financial investments. The results of the survey stemmed from a poll taken in December 2018 and the examination reveals 7.4% of the 2,500 individuals surveyed said they own digital currencies. Moreover, South Koreans between 25 and 64 years old who had purchased cryptocurrencies over the last year invested more than $6,000 on average.

On April 23, the South Korean won (KRW) captures 2% of the global BTC trade volumes, 4.8% of global BCH trade volumes, 1.4% of all ETH exchange volumes, 6.7% of all XRP exchange volumes, and only 0.28% of LTC volumes.

The $6,000 average is up two-fold since the organization’s last survey. Interestingly, Arirang’s report also details that older individuals in South Korea were more inclined to invest in cryptocurrencies stating that the most common buyer was in their 50s or older. The second set of surveyed traders who participated in buying more cryptos last year were between 30 and 40 years old. It seems the crypto winter didn’t stop South Korean optimism for digital assets as the average local trader increased their crypto holdings by 64.2% in the past 12 months. The 7.4% who professed to own cryptocurrencies is also up from the year before when the last poll recorded only 6.4% of investors, which indicates traders are a touch more positive this time around.

Cryptocurrency interest in the last two months in South Korea has spiked and some traders experienced a ‘Kimchi Premium’ on BTC and other coins during the first week of April.

The Last Few Months Indicate a Resurgence of South Korean Interest in Cryptos

In 2017, cryptocurrency markets were extremely popular among South Korean traders and numbers that year definitely outshone the recent KOFIA poll published this week. According to another survey, one third of South Korean workers were crypto investors in 2017 but the average investment was less at $5,260 per investor. Another difference between then and now was the amount of younger (20s and 30s) South Korean investors was about 80% of the respondents polled. At the time, the South Korean won captured a third of the world’s crypto trade volume in 2017 behind the USD and JPY. Today the currency is still usually a top five trading pair, according to data from sites like Coinlib.io and Cryptocompare.

In the last three months, Localbitcoins volumes in South Korea have touched all-time highs, even surpassing 2017 volumes.

The recent KOFIA survey shows positivity has increased despite the regulatory crackdowns and a hack that occurred on one of the most popular South Korean trading platforms. South Korean traders have been dealing with much stricter crypto regulations, six cryptocurrency-related bills that were submitted to the National Assembly last December, and Bithumb dealt with a hack that saw the loss of $18 million last March. However, since the cryptocurrency price trend reversal over the last two months, South Korean interest in trading digital assets is growing strong once again. During the first week of April, local traders in South Korea dealt with a ‘Kimchi Premium,’ which saw traders paying more money for cryptos compared to the average global exchange rates. Moreover, trade volumes on Localbitcoins in South Korea have surpassed 2017’s all-time highs during a few weekly periods in February, March, and April 2019.

What do you think about the increase of cryptocurrency holdings by South Korean investors? Let us know what you think about this recent survey in the comments section below.

Image credits: Shutterstock, Twitter, and Coin Dance.

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