South Korean Crypto Traders Flood Overseas Exchanges with $110B Amid Domestic Constraints
South Korea's crypto investors have funneled ₩124 trillion ($110 billion) to foreign exchanges in the first nine months of 2025—triple 2023's outflow—as regulatory constraints limit domestic platforms to spot trading. With 10 million active traders (20% of the population), Korean won volumes now rival USD pairs globally, per CoinGecko data.
Binance leads offshore fee income at ₩2.73 trillion, followed by Bybit (₩1.12T) and OKX (₩580B), collectively extracting ₩4.77 trillion from Korean users—2.7x the combined revenue of Upbit, Bithumb, and other local exchanges. 'The exodus reflects a hunger for Leveraged products and derivatives unavailable at home,' notes Kaiko's report.
Regulators are tightening oversight as capital flight accelerates, with 2025's total outflows projected at ₩160 trillion. The figures underscore Korea's paradoxical crypto dominance: retail enthusiasm thrives despite—or perhaps because of—restrictive policies.
