South Korea remains to be a significant marketplace for altcoins, supporting a small choice of property with resilient liquidity. Regardless of the dearth of a transparent altcoin market, some property stay interesting to South Korean traders.
South Korea is the exception to the final outflow from altcoin markets. Latest analysis reveals South Korean exchanges carry round 30% of worldwide crypto buying and selling volumes.
In accordance with Kaiko’s analysis, 85% of that exercise is linked to altcoins, whereas $BTC and $ETH carry a a lot smaller weight.
Korea accounts for 30% of worldwide crypto buying and selling quantity, with altcoins representing 85% of this exercise, Bitcoin simply 9%, and Ethereum 6%. pic.twitter.com/64ND9lGCH4
— Kaiko (@KaikoData) April 15, 2026
The ratio is skewed from the standard dominance of $BTC and blue-chip property. On Coinbase, which caters to US-based merchants, $BTC and $ETH pairs make up 70% of all volumes.
Why is South Korea an altcoin hub?
Over 85% of volumes in South Korea come from altcoins. On the similar time, the share of altcoin buying and selling on Binance is all the way down to round 30%.
South Korean listings are comparatively conservative, and the exchanges carry altcoins from earlier bull markets. The KRW pairs additionally imply the accessible liquidity is localized quite than world. Because the exchanges usually are not depending on the influx of altcoins, some altcoins profit from native hype and the final high-risk retail funding tradition.
Weekly buying and selling volumes on native exchanges are at round $2.66B, a comparatively low baseline. South Korean change buying and selling, together with Upbit, Bithumb, and KuCoin, can also have an effect on futures markets for chosen property.
General, buying and selling in Southeast Asia has shifted to a decrease baseline. Japan’s market dietary supplements a gentle quantity of $20-$30B weekly, whereas offering important liquidity for $BTC buying and selling.
Which altcoins profit from buying and selling in South Korea?
One notable impact of South Korean exchanges is that trending cash additionally spark acceleration on by-product markets. As an illustration, Enjin Coin, a comparatively previous asset, was among the many prime 5 property on Bithumb as of April 15.
Over 20% of $ENJ volumes are in opposition to the South Korean received, permitting the asset to realize a powerful pattern. Coinciding with the Bithumb rally, the place $ENJ reached a brand new excessive for 2026, open curiosity additionally elevated to a three-year excessive.
Different altcoins with important exercise on South Korean markets embrace XRP and the not too long ago trending $ZAMA. Within the case of $ZAMA, open curiosity additionally spiked in accordance with the elevated Bithumb and Upbit buying and selling.
Nevertheless, for tokens buying and selling on South Korean exchanges, futures nonetheless relied on Binance. These property could also be watched by worldwide merchants, making use of robust directional strikes to additionally profit from the extra simply accessible futures markets.
South Korean markets are nonetheless remoted because of native banking laws, and international merchants have discovered a workaround by way of Binance or perpetual futures platforms. Nevertheless, not all older altcoins can be found as perpetual futures.
The latest examples of altcoin exercise present that not all property have been deserted, so long as they may appeal to adequate liquidity and acquire a clearer route.
