South Korea ranked second in the world, behind the United States, in the value of cryptocurrency holdings verified on blockchain networks. The country also placed sixth globally in stablecoin payments received, underscoring its growing presence in actual usage as well as investment. Market participants warn that if taxation begins next year while tax infrastructure remains underdeveloped relative to the scale of crypto investment and use, domestic funds could shift en masse to overseas exchanges and personal wallets.
According to financial industry sources on the 28th, blockchain data analytics firm Chainalysis ranked South Korea fifth among 117 countries surveyed in its recently released 2026 Global Crypto Adoption Index. Brazil took first place, followed by the United States, Nigeria and Japan.
South Korea ranked second only to the United States in on-chain holdings, a measure of the value of cryptocurrency stored in on-chain services such as personal wallets and exchanges. Because participation by domestic corporations in the crypto market remains limited, analysts believe much of that balance is held by retail investors. In a survey of virtual asset service providers conducted by financial regulators in the second half of last year, 99.9% of users of domestic virtual asset service providers were individuals.
The influence of such retail investors has been growing in the global crypto market. New types of investment products such as tokenized stocks have emerged, while the spread of stablecoin payments and remittances has driven a rapid increase in small-value transactions led by individuals.
Growth in real-world stablecoin use has been especially steep in the Asia-Pacific region, including South Korea. According to CoinDesk Research, 51.2% of global stablecoin payments for which a country or region could be identified originated in the Asia-Pacific region. Transactions were concentrated in South Korea, Taiwan, Indonesia, India and Australia, and the flow from Taiwan into South Korea was cited as one of the major stablecoin payment corridors.
South Korea also ranks near the top globally in payments received by country. According to blockchain data analytics firm Allium, stablecoin payments flowing into South Korea totaled $5.3 billion from January through August this year, sixth in the world among destinations that could be identified. Thailand ranked first at $10.8 billion, followed by Turkey at $7.8 billion, Indonesia at $6.3 billion, Mexico at $6.1 billion and the United States at $5.7 billion.
The concern is that such large domestic trading demand could move offshore once taxation of crypto investment income takes effect next year. In a survey of 2,423 domestic crypto investors by Tiger Research, 73.1% said they were likely to reduce their use of domestic exchanges once the tax begins. Of those, 88% said they might expand their use of overseas exchanges or personal wallets instead. Tiger Research estimated that if such shifts materialize, annual trading volume at the country's three largest exchanges — Upbit, Bithumb and Coinone — could fall about 30% to 602 trillion won next year from roughly 860 trillion won this year.
With the tax now just three months away, the National Assembly has again taken up the question of a delay. The Assembly's Finance and Economic Planning Committee put two income tax bills that would postpone the start of crypto taxation on its full committee agenda that day. A bill introduced by People Power Party lawmaker Jung Sung-kook would delay the tax, set to begin in January, by three years, while a bill by People Power Party lawmaker Kim Sang-hoon would postpone it by two years. A public petition calling for the crypto tax to be scrapped altogether was also taken up at a full committee session for the first time since it was referred to the committee in May, four months earlier. Democratic Party lawmaker Min Byoung-dug and independent lawmaker Han Dong-hoon had earlier raised the need for a delay.
The government, however, maintains that the tax will take effect in January as scheduled. Lee Hyoung-il, deputy prime minister and minister of finance and economy, told the committee session that day that "the National Tax Service is preparing a public notice" on the tax and added, "We will consult and move on this as soon as possible."
