As the prolonged slump in the cryptocurrency market continues, an increasing number of coins are failing to clear the threshold for maintaining their listings. During the first three quarters of this year, the number of digital assets removed from the trading support lists of the top 5 won-market exchanges surged to about three times the figure from the same period last year. With a flood of mass delisting announcements and caution designations continuing this month, voices are growing calling for the refinement of review and disclosure procedures to screen out distressed projects while minimizing investor harm.

According to a cross-check of trading support statuses compiled by the Digital Asset Exchange Association (DAXA) obtained by the Seoul Economic Daily on the 20th, 103 cryptocurrencies that were listed at the end of last year were removed from the trading support lists of the top 5 exchanges between January and September. This is nearly three times the 40 coins recorded during the same period last year. Overlaps of the same tokens across exchanges and verified rebranding cases were excluded.

The housecleaning by exchanges has continued into this month. Between the 1st and 16th of this month, 48 cryptocurrencies (excluding duplicates) were either announced for trading support termination or designated as items for caution. Among them, measures concerning 41 of these coins were concentrated on a single day on the 16th. Twenty coins—including Zilliqa (ZIL), Galaxia (GXA), and Delabs Games (DELABS)—were forewarned of trading support termination. Another 21 coins—including GemHub (GHU), Mayflower (MAY), and Ultra (UOS)—were classified as caution items, with their continued trading support to be determined based on future review results.

The backdrop behind the surge in exchange exit reviews lies in the decline of market liquidity. The top 5 domestic exchanges conduct reviews on maintaining listings at least once a quarter, adhering to the "Trading Support Best Practices," a self-regulatory framework established centered around DAXA. Market capitalization and trading volume serve as primary inspection targets. If these indicators fall short of internal minimum standards and user harm is anticipated, the assets are designated as caution items or reviewed for trading support termination.

The problem is that a combination of price drops and shrinking trade has led to a succession of projects failing to meet these criteria. According to the Financial Services Commission’s actual condition survey on virtual asset service providers, the average daily trading value of domestic cryptocurrencies in the first half of this year stood at approximately 3.1 trillion won. This is less than half of the 6.4 trillion won recorded in the first half of last year. Furthermore, the total valuation of domestic cryptocurrencies at the end of June was 58.9 trillion won, down 33% from the end of last year.

Amid ongoing geopolitical uncertainties, investors' attention has gravitated toward AI and semiconductor-related stocks, causing the market heat to cool down. In fact, major coin prices have plummeted significantly compared to a year ago. According to CoinMarketCap, Bitcoin stood at $81,691 as of 3.50 PM on this day, down about 26.5% from a year ago. Ethereum, a representative altcoin, traded at $2,395 over the same period, tumbling 41.2% and recording a steeper drop.

Experts pointed out that while the rise in exits can serve as an opportunity to enhance market soundness, a distinction must be made between temporary trading slumps and fundamental business distress. Park Hye-jin, a chair professor of AI and Digital Assets at Sogang University, noted, "If reviews are conducted based solely on trading volume, projects temporarily sidelined by the market could be squeezed out. We need a comprehensive evaluation of business viability, ongoing development, and circulating supply disclosures. While cleaning out distressed assets is a healthy direction in itself, if tangible assets such as Real-World Asset (RWA) tokenization or security tokens fail to fill that void, the entire market could contract."

There are also demands to refine procedures so that investors can adequately respond during the exit process. In particular, concerns are raised that when delistings and caution designations are concentrated in a specific period—as seen on the 16th—price plunges and liquidity shortages can amplify investor damage. Hwang Seok-jin, a professor at the Graduate School of Information Security at Dongguk University, suggested, "It is necessary to transparently disclose the standards for delisting and caution designations, and to reflect the self-regulatory trading support review system within the Digital Asset Basic Act." Professor Park also advised, "There is a need to regularize listing maintenance reviews, disperse the announcement of results, and establish preliminary warning stages."

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