Foreign Crypto Accounts at South Korea Exchanges Reach 566,352, but Only 90 Were Active in July

More than 560,000 foreign accounts are registered at South Korea’s five biggest cryptocurrency exchanges, but only a tiny fraction were used for trading or other transactions. Corporate accounts showed a similar pattern, with thousands opened but only limited actual activity.

The five exchanges had a combined 566,352 foreign accounts as of the end of July, Seoul Economic Daily reported on August 24. They also had 6,590 corporate accounts.

Actual usage was minimal. Only 90 foreign accounts were active in July, meaning they were used at least once for trading, swaps, staking, or cryptocurrency deposits and withdrawals. At Bithumb, which had 484,846 foreign accounts, there were no active foreign accounts at all last month.

Only 29 general corporate accounts were active. Of those, 22 belonged to Dunamu, the operator of Upbit.

Bithumb had the largest number of corporate accounts at 3,280, followed by Dunamu with 2,086. Together, the two accounted for 5,366 corporate accounts, or 81.4% of the total. Bithumb also held 484,846 foreign accounts, or more than 85% of the total, while Dunamu had 42,449.

Trading activity was limited, but the assets held in those accounts were sizable. Corporate accounts held about $31.4 million in crypto assets. Of that, about $19.6 million, or 62.4%, was held through Upbit. Foreign account holders had about $22.0 million in crypto assets and about $1.9 million in deposits.

The gap between the number of accounts and actual usage reflects current regulations. General corporations can open exchange accounts, but they face restrictions on won-based crypto trading and on deposits and withdrawals. After completing know-your-customer checks, they can still trade in coin markets using Bitcoin or Tether.

Foreign users have also faced limits on domestic crypto trading since revisions to South Korea’s Act on Reporting and Use of Certain Financial Transaction Information took effect in 2021, making it harder to secure real-name verified accounts for deposits and withdrawals. Industry participants say many of the remaining foreign accounts were created before those restrictions were tightened.

South Korea’s financial authorities are preparing safeguards that would allow listed companies and corporations registered as professional investors to trade crypto for investment and treasury purposes. Exchanges are also preparing stronger customer verification, systems to split large orders into smaller trades, and crypto custody frameworks.