Report: The number of crypto investors in South Korea accounts for 10% of the total population this year and has a strong preference for altcoins

According to a report by DeSpread Research, South Koreans are active cryptocurrency traders, with local exchanges leading the world in trading volume and a strong preference for altcoins and local tokens. According to the report, according to a survey by the Korean Financial Intelligence Unit (KoFIU), the number of cryptocurrency investors in South Korea reached approximately 6 million this year, accounting for 10% of the population. “Most of these investors mainly invest in CEX, which makes CEX’s influence in the Korean crypto market very large.” Trading volumes on global CEXs have declined since March as Bitcoin traded sideways. Local exchanges such as Upbit, South Korea's largest exchange, bucked the trend and as of July, its trading volume grew faster than Binance. Part of the rise is due to XRP's price and trading volume surging after Ripple won the case. In addition, Korean traders are very interested in altcoins and are not too keen on mainstream coins. “Most individual investors on Upbit show strong interest in altcoins with high profit potential and tend to accept the associated high risks. This is considered to be one of the reasons for the high proportion of altcoin transactions in the Korean market.” In South Korea, the preferred trading network also differs, with the Tron network being used for the majority of transactions due to relatively low transaction fees. (CoinDesk)