Blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis announced on the 6th that South Korea's virtual asset economy is estimated at $449.1 billion (approx. 604 trillion won), ranking as the largest in East Asia.

According to its 'East Asia Crypto Adoption Report', Chainalysis analyzed that South Korea's virtual asset economy grew by 12.3% year-over-year during the period from July of last year to June of this year.

This scale surpasses those of Japan ($228.3 billion), Hong Kong ($192.2 billion), China ($176.3 billion), and Taiwan ($140.4 billion) over the same period.

The report also noted that virtual asset activities through domestic exchanges increased by 16.3% year-over-year during this period, with exchange-related fund flows expanding by $51.1 billion.

It explained that the South Korean market has grown primarily centered around retail (individual) investors, while major financial institutions have yet to enter the market in earnest.

As of June of last year, among major thematic assets in South Korea's Korean Won (KRW) virtual asset markets, artificial intelligence (AI) related assets—such as Worldcoin (WLD)—accounted for the highest share at approximately 18%.

In addition, the report highlighted characteristics of other regions: fund inflows via institutional-targeted platforms accounted for 16% of total virtual asset service inflows in Hong Kong.

In Japan, decentralized exchanges (DEXs) accounted for 34.5% of the total virtual asset service market.

In China, it was estimated that 59.1% of the total virtual asset economy originated from peer-to-peer (P2P) fund flows.

[ⓒ Global Economic Times. 무단전재-재배포 금지]