Key Takeaways
Despite high trading volumes, Korea’s crypto market still relies heavily on retail investors because regulation limits corporate participation. Corporate account access could broaden the market’s demand base and support its next stage of growth.
Corporate crypto assets under management could reach up to KRW 82 trillion by 2030. Trading, custody and prime brokerage could also create about KRW 570 billion in annual revenue.
Further delays could push Korean demand and business opportunities offshore. This shift is already visible in payments and asset management, and overseas markets could build customer relationships and operating experience before Korea fully opens its market.
1. Korea’s Crypto Market: Limited Upside Without Institutional Participation
Korea is one of the world’s most active crypto markets. The Korean won has accounted for around 30% of global crypto trading volume by fiat currency in recent years, second only to the US dollar. At one point, its share exceeded 50% and even surpassed that of the dollar. Given Korea’s population and economic size, this level of activity is unusually high.
Yet Korea’s domestic crypto industry has not grown at the same pace. The valuations of major Korean and global crypto companies highlight this gap. Direct comparisons have limits because capital market size and business scope differ across countries. Even so, the valuation gap remains substantial. Dunamu, Korea’s largest crypto company, has a valuation of only about one-seventh of Coinbase’s.
Retail investors drove the growth of Korea’s crypto market, while regulation restricted corporate participation. The United States shows a different pattern. Institutional investors account for more than 80% of Coinbase’s trading volume, making institutional demand a core part of the market. Korea has generated substantial trading volume, but corporate demand has remained largely absent. This has limited the industry’s ability to move into its next stage of growth.
2. Corporate Account Delays Put a KRW 82 Trillion Market on Hold
Korea has delayed corporate account access beyond the original timeline. In 2025, the Financial Services Commission planned to first allow around 3,500 listed companies and registered professional investor corporations to trade crypto for investment purposes, then expand access in phases. Yet the first phase has not started, and the government has not set a timeline for broader corporate access. These delays continue to limit corporate capital inflows into Korea’s crypto market.
Corporate account access could broaden demand in Korea’s crypto market. We estimated the potential market based on assets under management at private financial firms and public funds such as pension funds. For 2027, we used crypto allocation levels in markets with more established corporate participation, such as the United States, as a benchmark. This puts the upper end of Korea’s corporate crypto assets under management at about KRW 16 trillion.
The market could grow further as more corporations participate. From 2028, we factored in asset growth and higher crypto allocations. We applied a 5% allocation to private financial firms based on the investment limit discussed in Korea. We applied 2% to public funds to reflect their more conservative approach. Under these assumptions, corporate crypto assets under management could reach KRW 35.2 trillion in 2028, KRW 57.1 trillion in 2029 and up to KRW 82 trillion in 2030. This represents the upper end of the potential market. The actual size will depend on the pace of regulatory changes and market conditions.
2.1. A KRW 570 Billion Corporate Financial Services Market
Corporate account access could expand Korea’s crypto financial services market beyond trading. Corporations need reliable execution for large orders, secure custody, and treasury and risk management. These needs create demand for custody, prime brokerage and other services beyond CEX trading.
Based on revenue models in overseas corporate markets, KRW 82 trillion in corporate assets under management could generate about KRW 570 billion in annual revenue by 2030. This includes trading fees and revenue from custody, trade execution and treasury management.
As corporate assets under management grow, demand for these services will rise as well. Custody, prime brokerage and other corporate services could give Korea’s crypto industry new revenue streams beyond retail trading fees.
2.2. Beyond Trading: Expanding the Crypto Industry
Corporate accounts matter not only for investment trading but also for businesses that use crypto. Stablecoin payments and remittances are key examples. These services require companies to trade crypto directly and settle in KRW. In Korea, restrictions on corporate trading have also held back the growth of these businesses.
Overseas markets already support a wide range of crypto businesses. Companies such as Rain, BVNK and Mesh provide payment and settlement infrastructure. Public and private companies use different valuation methods, which limits direct comparisons. Even so, several companies in this sector have reached multi-trillion-won valuations.
Corporate account access could open the door to similar businesses in Korea. Payment and fintech companies could expand crypto-based payment and remittance services. Other companies could also use crypto for payments and settlement. Corporate account access could help Korea’s crypto industry expand beyond trading into new business areas.
2.3. Corporate Participation Could Improve Market Liquidity
Strong retail participation has driven high trading volumes in Korea’s crypto market. Yet the market still struggles to absorb large orders compared with major global CEX. Our analysis of Bitcoin spot trading over the past week found that a KRW 10 billion order produced 213.2bp of round-trip slippage across Korea’s three largest CEX combined. Under the same conditions, Binance recorded just 12.2bp. The gap widened as order size increased.
This suggests that Korea’s market lacks sufficient depth relative to its trading volume. Even with high trading activity, the order book may not hold enough liquidity to absorb large trades. As order size rises, price impact increases. Korea therefore has less capacity to handle large trades despite its high trading volume.
Corporate account access could help address this gap by broadening market participation and attracting professional liquidity providers. Deeper order books could reduce price impact and trading costs for large orders. Better liquidity could improve trading efficiency for both corporate and retail investors
3. Delayed Access Pushes Opportunities Offshore
As Korea delays corporate account access, domestic crypto demand is already shifting overseas. Allium data shows that B2B stablecoin payments between Korea and other countries reached about USD 620 million from January 2021 to September 2026. The data excludes CEX deposits and withdrawals and investment-related transactions. It covers only payments for goods and services. This shows that businesses already use stablecoins for payments and settlement beyond investment activity.
Much of this demand is already moving into overseas markets. Some import-export businesses cannot easily handle stablecoins in Korea, so they rely on overseas entities or partners in markets such as Hong Kong for conversion and settlement. Hyperithm provides crypto asset management services to corporate clients in Japan, while Mirae Asset Securities is expanding its digital asset business in Hong Kong. Korean demand and business capabilities are already creating commercial opportunities in overseas markets with the regulatory framework to support them.
If this trend continues, companies operating overseas will build not only customer bases and revenue but also business relationships and operating experience. Once companies establish payment networks and commercial relationships abroad, those activities may not return quickly even if Korea opens its market later. Businesses are also likely to keep investing in markets where they have already built customers and operating experience. Delays in corporate account access therefore do more than postpone capital inflows. They could push business opportunities that might otherwise develop in Korea to take root overseas first.
4. The Next Step for Korea’s Crypto Market: Corporate Account Access
Corporate account access could do more than bring corporate capital into crypto. It could create a new financial services market. As estimated above, corporations could manage up to KRW 82 trillion in crypto assets by 2030. Trading, custody and prime brokerage could generate about KRW 570 billion in annual revenue. More corporate capital would also increase demand for services that support trading, custody and asset management.
The impact could extend beyond financial services. Greater corporate use of crypto could drive demand for payments, remittances, accounting, tax, security, anti-money laundering (AML) and data services. The key question is whether these opportunities develop in Korea. If they do, Korean companies can capture the revenue and build operating experience at home. Domestic transactions would also make transaction flows easier to track and strengthen taxation and market oversight.
Korea already has high trading volumes and strong demand for crypto. Yet restrictions on corporate participation have kept this demand from driving growth across financial services and related industries. Corporate account access could connect existing demand with the growth of Korea’s crypto industry and expand a market built around retail investors to include corporate investors and businesses.
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