89% of Delisted Crypto Tokens Were Single-Listed, South Korean Regulators Warn

40% of single-listed tokens valued at less than 100 million won ($72,000)

Trading support suspensions jump 64% from the second half of last year

Eighty-nine percent of virtual assets whose trading support was halted on South Korean exchanges in the first half were tokens listed on only one platform, financial authorities said. Regulators warned that many of those tokens were small, with investors needing to watch for thin liquidity and sharp price swings.

According to the "2026 First-Half Survey of Virtual Asset Service Providers" released on October 2 by the Financial Intelligence Unit and the Financial Supervisory Service, 76 virtual assets had trading support withdrawn in the first half after excluding duplicate cases. Of those, 68 were single-listed tokens, accounting for about 89%.

Including overlap across exchanges, the number of trading support suspensions totaled 108, up 64% from 66 in the second half of last year. In won-denominated markets, the figure rose to 101 from 54. By contrast, total new listings fell 46% to 135 from 250. Designations as investor caution items increased to 139 from 95.

Of the 673 virtual assets circulating in South Korea at the end of June, 234 were single-listed tokens. That was down by 62 from the end of last year, but they still accounted for about 35% of all tokens. The value of domestic holdings in those assets stood at about 600 billion won ($434 million), or about 1% of the total valuation of all virtual assets.

Among single-listed tokens, 93, or 40%, had domestic holdings valued at less than 100 million won ($72,000). That applied to 65 of 189 single-listed tokens in won-denominated markets and 28 of 45 in coin markets. The report said investors need to pay attention to market risks such as a lack of liquidity and sharp price volatility.

Price swings were also larger. The average decline from peak to trough for single-listed virtual assets in the first half was 77%, higher than the 69% average for all virtual assets. The measure reflects the gap between the highest and lowest prices during the period divided by the peak price, and differs from a year-to-date return metric.

Project risk, including concerns over business sustainability and issuing foundations, accounted for 40% of the reasons for trading support suspensions, the largest share. Market risk, including weak liquidity and sharp price declines, followed at 25%. Investor protection risk accounted for 13%, while technical risk and other reasons each made up 11%.