Vedant Sahu
Interest in altcoins might be the key factor as South Korean interest in alternative cryptoassets keeps growing, a new report has claimed.
According to the South Korean media outlet Kyunghyang Games, the findings were published in a report on the nation’s crypto community by the blockchain market consultancy DeSpread.
The report’s authors mentioned that “altcoin preference” is “one of the main features of the domestic virtual currency market.”
They also stated that “users of domestic crypto exchanges mainly trade in altcoins, rather than Bitcoin (BTC) or Ethereum (ETH).”
South Korean Altcoin Interest Continues to Rise?
The report’s authors observed that “the influence of the South Korean market” was “noticeable” in “major global altcoin markets with relatively large market capitalization.”
DeSpread noted that on August 5, 2023, 90% of the global trading volume of Stacks (STX) occurred “on domestic crypto exchanges.”
The firm added that at various times, 60% of the global trading volume of the NFT marketplace token Blur (BLUR) came from South Korea.
Crypto Adoption Showing No Signs of Slowdown?
The report also noted that search engine data showed South Koreans were more likely to search the web for crypto-related terms than people in the US and Japan in 2023.
While Americans and Japanese users were more likely to search the web for stocks-related terms, South Koreans were more likely to search for the term “코인” (literally “coin”). In South Korea, this term is mainly used to refer to altcoins.
Proportionally, South Koreans were also more likely to search for “Bitcoin” in 2023 than web users in the US and Japan.
The report also found that “mentions of the South Korean crypto market” were increasing on overseas media websites.
The authors said there had been a “steady increase” in South Korean crypto news “since 2021.”
They noted a sharp rise in South Korea-related coverage in 2022, when reporting “centered on [Do Kwon]” and the Terra ecosystem.
News reports have since “shifted focus to the overall crypto ecosystem, including South Korean government regulations,” the authors concluded.