Data from Kaiko Research reveals that South Korea’s won ranks as the second most heavily used fiat currency in crypto trading, just behind the U.S. dollar. Since the beginning of 2025, KRW-denominated trades have clocked in at a staggering $663 billion.
South Korea Flexes Crypto Muscle—Only the U.S. Dollar Does More Volume
South Korea remains a bustling hub for digital asset activity, and Kaiko’s figures confirm the won’s strong presence—trailing only the greenback when it comes to fiat-crypto trading volume.
Source: Kaiko Research
Trades settled in U.S. dollars totaled $832 billion, while those tied to the South Korean won came in just $169 billion behind, landing at $663 billion since the year began. The won edged ahead of Europe’s euro, Turkey’s lira, and the U.K.’s pound sterling.
Kaiko Research notes that “persistent barriers—like fragmented markets, low stablecoin adoption, and the enduring ‘kimchi premium’—continue to challenge institutional growth and product innovation in Korea’s crypto sector.”
At press time, bitcoin is trading roughly $1,150 higher in South Korea at $105,116 per coin, compared with the global weighted average of $103,966. Cryptoquant data reveals the kimchi premium has stayed elevated since May 22. As of yesterday, it was priced 2.46% above the global weighted average.
The last time bitcoin matched or dipped below the global rate was May 21, but for most of the year, the premium has held strong with only a few brief exceptions. Kaiko Research reports that South Korea ranks as the “second largest crypto market in the world [with] nearly one in three South Korean adults owns crypto, twice the adoption rate in the U.S.”
