The number of crypto investors in South Korea has surpassed 16 million, closing the gap in the number of stock investors in the country. While most investors still favor stocks ahead of digital assets, this feat is commendable and shows the attention that digital assets are now getting, even from some of the most ardent stock investors.
According to reports, a total of 16.29 million individuals had accounts at the top five domestic virtual assets exchanges. In the data submitted to Rep. Cha Gyu-geun of the minor opposition Rebuilding Korea Party, most of these users are on exchanges like Bithumb, Upbit, Gopax, Coinone, and Korbit. According to the reports, the figure was adjusted for users on multiple platforms, counting them just once.
According to the report, the total number of crypto holders in the country now accounts for about 32% of its population. The number of crypto investors exceeded the 14 billion mark for the first time in March 2024, before the sector welcomed over 500,000 people with the election of United States President Donald Trump. The development pushed the total number of crypto investors in the country above the 15 million mark.
South Korean investor statistics unveiled
According to reports, about 15 million South Korean crypto investors on the top exchanges were also categorized by age and gender. The male investors in their 30s and 40s accounted for about 40% of the crypto investors in the country. However, female investors in the 50s also accounted for a huge share of the high-net-worth investors in the crypto sector.
The report revealed that 9.2 million South Korean investors were registered on Upbit, while Coinone had 3.2 million investors. Bithump at 2.36 million, Korbit at 770,000, and Gopax at 150,000 represented the remaining figures. Bithumb registered a rise in the number of accounts, seeing a jump to 2.36 million as of March 18, with the rise representing a 77.4% increase in one year following an aggressive marketing push by the company.
In the categorization by age, South Korean investors in their 30s accounted for 4.51 million, closely followed by investors in their 40s at 3.97 million. Investors in their 20s or younger at 2.92 million, investors in their 50s at 2.64 million, and investors in their 60s at 1.12 million made up the remaining numbers. A spread of the gender showed males in their 30s and 40s at 3.1 million and 2.67 million, respectively, accounting for about 38.1% of the total investor population.
National Assembly officials’ crypto holdings surge 48% YoY
According to reports, investors holding less than 1 million won ($680) in crypto are about 12.1 million or 83.1%, while 1.57 million investors held between one million and 10 million won. Investors with assets between 10 million won and 100 million won were about 830,000, while about 160,000 investors held assets over 100 million won. According to the data, 36,000 male investors in their 40s hold digital assets of over 100 million, while 35,000 males in their 50s hold the same.
Meanwhile, the crypto holdings in the South Korean National Assembly registered an uptick, tripling in the last year. According to the 2025 property change report released by the National Assembly’s Public Officials Ethics Committee, about 335 senior officials, including members of the South Korean National Assembly and those affiliated with the secretariat, were put at 1.2 billion Korean won. This figure represents a three-fold increase from the 401.63 million that was reported in the same period last year.
The number of reported digital asset holdings also rose by 48.4% year-on-year to 46 cases. The reported targets were not only themselves but their spouses and direct descendants. The individual with the highest crypto holdings was Kim In-young, a policy research committee member of the National Assembly, who reported about 530 million won in digital assets. The report mentioned that Kim diversified his assets, spreading them across nine major cryptos, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana.
