South Korea Crypto Exchange Net Inflows Slump 57% Ahead of January Tax, Overseas Net Outflows Jump 74%

Forecast Trend Report by Period

With South Korea set to begin taxing virtual assets in January, capital flowing into domestic exchanges has dropped sharply, fueling concern that investment money may move overseas.

Chosun Biz reported on September 23 that People Power Party lawmaker Park Soo-young analyzed data submitted by South Korea’s five largest crypto exchanges. Net asset inflows at Upbit, Bithumb, Coinone, Korbit and Gopax totaled 2.05 trillion won ($1.49 billion) in the January-August period, down 56.8% from 4.74 trillion won ($3.43 billion) a year earlier.

Won deposits at the exchanges also fell sharply. Balances at the five domestic exchanges dropped 32.3% to 5.2 trillion won ($3.77 billion) in August from 7.69 trillion won ($5.57 billion) in January.