Altcoin Interest Driving South Korean Crypto Craze – Report

Altcoin interest may be the driving factor as South Korean interest in alternative cryptoassets continues to rise, a new report has claimed.

Per the South Korean media outlet Kyunghyang Games, the findings were published in a report on the nation’s crypto community by the blockchain market consultancy DeSpread.

The report’s authors noted that “altcoin preference” is “one of the main features of the domestic virtual currency market.”

They added that “users of domestic crypto exchanges mainly trade in altcoins, rather than Bitcoin (BTC) or Ethereum (ETH).”

Top trading pairs on the South Korean Bithumb crypto exchange on May 27. (Source: CoinGecko)

South Korean Altcoin Interest Continues to Rise?

The report’s authors noted that “the influence of the South Korean market” was “noticeable” in “major global altcoin markets with relatively large market capitalization.”

DeSpread noted that on August 5, 2023, 90% of the global trading volume of Stacks (STX) took place “on domestic crypto exchanges.”

The firm added that at various times, 60% of the global trading volume of the NFT marketplace token Blur (BLUR) has originated from South Korea.

Top trading pairs on the South Korean Coinone crypto exchange on May 27. (Source: CoinGecko)

Crypto Adoption Showing No Signs of Slowdown?

The report also noted that search engine data showed that South Koreans were more likely to search the web for crypto-related terms than people in the US and Japan in 2023.

While Americans and Japanese users were more likely to search the web for stocks-related terms, South Koreans were more likely to search for the term “코인”(literally “coin”). In South Korea, this term is mainly used to refer to altcoins.

Proportionally, South Koreans were also more likely to search for “Bitcoin” in 2023 than web users in the US and Japan.

Forbes ranks Upbit as world’s 4th most trustworthy crypto exchangehttps://t.co/78524kFz5S

— The Korea Times (@koreatimescokr) May 21, 2024

The report also found that “mentions of the South Korean crypto market” were increasing on overseas media websites.

The authors said there had been a “steady increase” in South Korean crypto news “since 2021.”

They noted a sharp rise in South Korea-related coverage in 2022, when reporting “centered on [Do Kwon]” and the Terra ecosystem.

News reports have since “shifted focus to the overall crypto ecosystem, including South Korean government regulations,” the authors concluded.

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