Exodus even from coins... KRW 4 trillion in deposits evaporate

As the virtual asset market, including Bitcoin, underwent turbulence, it was found that over KRW 4 trillion in deposits have left the nation's top 5 virtual asset exchanges since the start of this year.

According to data submitted by Park Sang-hyuk of the Democratic Party of Korea to the Financial Supervisory Service on April 16, the combined KRW-denominated deposits at the five major virtual asset exchanges—Upbit, Bithumb, Coinone, Korbit, and Gopax—totaled KRW 6.9004 trillion as of the end of April. At the end of January, deposit balances at the five exchanges neared KRW 10.6561 trillion, but fell to KRW 8.6006 trillion at the end of February and KRW 7.3979 trillion at the end of March, continuing the downward trend. This means that KRW 3.7557 trillion left in just three months.

The deposit balance at Upbit, Korea's largest virtual asset exchange, shrank by KRW 2.8111 trillion, from KRW 7.7562 trillion at the end of January to KRW 4.9451 trillion at the end of April this year. During the same period, Bithumb's deposits fell by KRW 844.3 billion. Coinone and Korbit saw declines of KRW 55.6 billion and KRW 43.8 billion, respectively.

The virtual asset market surged last November after Donald Trump, known for being crypto-friendly, was elected as U.S. president. On top of that, interest rate cuts led to an influx of money—moving out from banks and into the virtual asset market—earlier this year. However, as macroeconomic uncertainty increased due to Trump administration's tariff policies and volatility expanded, investors began withdrawing their deposits en masse. An industry insider commented, "The intensification of the Israel-Iran conflict is also one of the factors amplifying market volatility."

Reporter Shin Yeon-su sys@hankyung.com