Korean Regulators Flag $60B Shift From Local Exchanges to Offshore Markets - Crypto Economy

TL;DR:

• South Korea recorded crypto outflows of $60 billion to foreign platforms and private wallets in the second half of 2025.
• The Financial Services Commission attributed the flows to arbitrage activities and noted a 38% drop in operating profits at local exchanges.
• The total market capitalization of South Korea’s crypto market closed 2025 at around $58 billion, 8% below the first half of the year.

South Korea recorded crypto outflows of approximately 90 trillion won, equivalent to around $60 billion, from its local platforms to foreign exchanges and private wallets during the second half of 2025.

The figures come from a report published on Wednesday by the Financial Services Commission (FSC), the country’s main financial regulator, and represents a 14% increase compared to the outflows recorded in the first half of the year, which had reached 78.9 trillion won ($52.5 billion).

The regulator noted that “virtual assets are presumed to be being transferred abroad for arbitrage activities and similar purposes.” The acceleration of these flows coincided with periods of heightened volatility in global markets, which reportedly led local traders to seek price differences between platforms.


The Numbers South Korea’s Market Cannot Hide

Despite the increase in outflows, the local ecosystem showed expansion in terms of users. By the end of 2025, the number of active accounts on South Korean exchanges reached 11.1 million, 3% more than in June of the same year. Deposits grew considerably, by 31%, reaching 8.1 trillion won ($5.4 billion).

However, that growth did not translate into better financial results for South Korea’s platforms The country’s 18 operating exchanges reported combined operating profits of 380.7 billion won ($253.4 million) in the second half, a 38% drop compared to 617.8 billion won ($411.2 million) in the previous period. The FSC attributed part of this deterioration to the decline in the prices of major cryptocurrencies toward the end of the year.

The average daily transaction volume also contracted by 15%, to 5.4 trillion won ($3.6 billion). Against that backdrop, the total market capitalization of South Korea’s crypto market closed the year at 87.2 trillion won, around $58 billion, below the peak recorded in October 2025, when bitcoin marked an all-time high of nearly $126,080.