Despite a turbulent near 2022, the South Korean cryptocurrency market appeared to have picked up momentum in 2023.
According to a Korean Financial Intelligence Unit (KOFIU) report, the South Korean crypto market surged 46% to realize a valuation of 28.4 trillion gained (about $21.08 billion) between January and June 2023.
This follows a dismal 2022, which noticed the market valuation dip to 19.4 trillion gained.
Despite this upswing, the anti-money laundering company (KOFIU) argued that crypto investments haven’t but reclaimed the highs of 2021.
According to its press launch, the efficiency of the primary half of 2023 is considerably decrease because the nascent {industry} closed at 55.4 trillion gained (about $40.9 billion) on the peak of the crypto growth.
This determine signifies that the uptick of the primary half of 2023 remains to be down by 48.5% in comparison with its 2021 shut.
Shedding mild on the way it garnered its end result, KOFIU acknowledged that it carried out its survey on 26 extremely liquid cryptocurrency exchanges and funding companies.
The unit additionally pulled their knowledge from 9 crypto pockets and custody suppliers, bringing the overall to 35 crypto-facing companies. There was additionally a acknowledged enhance in the variety of listed belongings.
According to the monetary intelligence arm, cryptocurrency listings elevated from 1,362 in 2022 to 1,399 in the primary months of this yr.
Further insights emerged from their findings. KOFIU reported that the common every day buying and selling quantity from January to June 2023 was roughly 2.9 trillion gained (about $2.19 billion).
This represents a 1.3% lower from 2.94 trillion gained (about $2.21 billion) in the ultimate quarter of 2022.
Moreover, cryptocurrency traders fell from 6.27 million in 2022 to six.06 million merchants in 2023. This drop represents a 3% decline in investor participation in the decentralized financial system.
Crypto Firms Facing Tough Times
2022 was a attempting interval for crypto-facing companies after a meteoric rise in 2021. The nascent {industry} obtained hit with main macroeconomic occasions and industry-related points.
The first was the Terra blockchain collapse, which wiped off over half a trillion {dollars} from the $2.92 trillion sturdy market.
Rounding the yr with much more unpleasantness, the FTX alternate crumbled, and its founder and CEO, Sam Bankman-Fried, was charged with fraud-related crimes by the US authorities.
These points have dampened confidence in the crypto market, and buying and selling companies have been negatively impacted.
According to KOFIU, about 10 surveyed crypto buying and selling companies struggled to take care of operations attributable to a pointy decline in volumes traded and transaction charges earned.
The sturdy crypto winter additionally noticed crypto fundraises drop to $2.1 billion 1 / 4 for many cryptocurrency exchanges.
Nonetheless, a sliver of hope stays as the overall working revenue shot up by 82% from its 2022 shut.
