Chainalysis Says South Korea’s $449.1 Billion Crypto Economy Is East Asia’s Largest, With AI Tokens Standing Out

South Korea’s crypto economy reached $449.1 billion, the largest in East Asia, with AI-related token trading standing out in the country’s retail-driven market.

Chainalysis said in its East Asia Crypto Adoption Report, released on Oct. 6, that South Korea’s crypto economy totaled $449.1 billion in the 12 months from July last year through June this year, up 12.3% from a year earlier. That exceeded Japan’s $228.3 billion, Hong Kong’s $192.2 billion, China’s $176.3 billion and Taiwan’s $140.4 billion.

Crypto activity through domestic exchanges also rose 16.3% from a year earlier. Exchange-related fund flows increased by $51.1 billion. The report said retail trading drove growth in South Korea even though major financial institutions have yet to enter the market in force.

Strong interest in AI-linked cryptocurrencies also emerged as a defining feature of the Korean market. As of June, AI-related tokens accounted for about 18% of all won-denominated crypto trading, the largest share among major thematic asset groups. That exceeded the share of payment tokens such as XRP.

In won-denominated trading, the share of AI-related tokens was 19.5 times that in yen-denominated trading. It was also well above the shares seen in trading denominated in the Brazilian real, British pound and euro.

Among AI-related cryptocurrencies, Worldcoin posted the largest trading volume at $7.41 billion. It was followed by Sahara AI at $3.2 billion, Virtual Protocol at $2.7 billion, Bio Protocol at $2 billion and NEAR Protocol at $1.7 billion.

Investor preferences also shifted quickly. Last year, Virtual Protocol and KAITO led trading, but this year Worldcoin and Sahara AI emerged as the leading names. Chainalysis said Korean retail investors tended to switch favored AI-related tokens more quickly and trade them more actively than those in the other markets covered by the analysis.

The report also raised the possibility that broader corporate participation could reshape the domestic market. Major South Korean banks and securities firms have set up dedicated digital-asset teams and are running pilot projects tied to stablecoins, tokenization and custody. Corporate participation for investment purposes, however, has yet to begin in earnest.

As the government moves to allow corporate participation in the crypto market in stages, the report said broader involvement by companies and regulatory changes, including a planned tax on crypto income set to take effect in 2027, could influence how retail and institutional investors participate in the domestic market.

The report also examined the characteristics of crypto markets across major East Asian economies. In Hong Kong, inflows through institution-focused platforms accounted for 16% of total inflows to crypto services. In Japan, decentralized exchanges accounted for 34.5% of the overall crypto-services market. In China, 59.1% of the overall crypto economy was estimated to come from peer-to-peer fund flows.

“Korea is a market with active retail participation, and this report clearly shows strong interest in AI-related cryptocurrencies and rapid shifts in investor preferences,” Kwon Jun-hyuk, head of Chainalysis Korea, said. He added that as participation by companies and institutions expands, the domestic crypto market is expected to become more diverse. Chainalysis will continue to help build a safer and more transparent market environment based on reliable blockchain data and analysis, he said.