[South Korea's Crypto Trading Volume Plummets as Retail Funds Shift to Stock Market Chasing KOSPI Trends] BlockBeats News, July 22: Over the past year, trading volumes on South Korea's major cryptocurrency exchanges have significantly declined, while the South Korean stock market has continued to rise, indicating that some retail speculative funds are shifting from the crypto market to the stock market. Data shows that the trading activity on South Korea's five major KRW-based exchanges—Upbit, Bithumb, Coinone, Korbit, and Gopax—has noticeably decreased. A comparison of 7-day trading data from July 2025 and July 2026 reveals that the average daily trading volume across the five exchanges dropped by approximately 77% year-over-year. In terms of overall trading volume, the average daily trading volume of the five exchanges fell from about $2.82 billion during the same period last year to approximately $305 million, a decline of roughly 89%. South Korean media outlet ZDNet Korea also reported earlier that as of July 20, the daily trading volume of the five major exchanges had dropped by about 88% year-over-year. Meanwhile, South Korea's benchmark stock index, KOSPI, has risen by approximately 114% over the past year. Although it retreated from its peak in June, the strong performance of the stock market continues to attract significant attention from retail investors. South Korea has long been one of the world's most active retail crypto markets, with exchanges heavily reliant on transaction fee revenue. As trading volumes decline, some exchanges are facing revenue pressure. Korbit, for instance, previously sold off some of its crypto assets, including 15 BTC and 60 ETH, raising approximately 1.6 billion KRW (around $1 million). Research firm Tiger Research believes that the cooling of South Korea's crypto market is not solely due to price factors but also stems from investor fatigue with repetitive narratives and unfulfilled projects. At the same time, the rise of KOSPI provides retail investors with a new speculative avenue. However, the firm notes that South Korean investors have not completely lost interest in crypto assets; rather, the market is undergoing a structural shift: retail participation is declining, while institutional funds are increasingly focusing on areas such as KRW stablecoins, tokenization of real-world assets (RWA), and investments in exchanges. Analysts suggest that if South Korea's stock market continues to attract capital inflows, it may further weaken crypto market liquidity in the short term and exacerbate operational pressures on small and medium-sized exchanges. [Original Link]