South Korea's crypto investor base exceeds 16 million amid market optimism

The number of cryptocurrency investors in South Korea has surpassed 16 million, driven by renewed market enthusiasm following Donald Trump’s victory in the U.S. presidential election, data showed on March 31.

As of February 2025, accounts registered with the country’s five major crypto exchanges—Upbit, Bithumb, Coinone, Korbit, and GOPAX—reached 16.29 million, according to Rep. Cha Gyu-geun of the Rebuilding Korea Party, citing data from the National Assembly’s Strategy and Finance Committee. The figure includes duplicate accounts held by individual investors.

The number of crypto investors in South Korea exceeded 14 million in March 2024 and has been growing steadily. However, Trump’s election in November, which included campaign pledges to support the crypto industry, triggered a sharp increase of more than 500,000 new accounts in a single month, pushing the total past 15 million.

Of the 15.16 million investors whose gender and age were identifiable, men accounted for 10.13 million, roughly double the 5.03 million women. By age group, investors in their 30s made up the largest segment at 4.51 million, followed by those in their 40s (3.97 million), under 30 (2.92 million), 50s (2.64 million), and 60s or older (1.12 million), reflecting the growing appeal of cryptocurrencies among young and middle-aged South Koreans.

In terms of investment size, 12.6 million investors, or 83% of the total, held less than 1 million won ($750) in crypto assets. Another 1.57 million held between 1 and 10 million won in crypto assets, 830,000 held between 10 million and 100 million won, and 160,000 had more than 100 million won in crypto holdings.