A significant portion of the population in South Korea is reportedly investing in crypto.
Citing new central bank data provided by the office of Democratic Party Rep. Lim Kwang-hyun, Yonhap News Agency reports the number of people who hold crypto in South Korean exchanges exceeded 15.59 million in November, up by 610,000 from 14.98 million in October.
The figures, based on the number of investors who have accounts in the five leading domestic exchanges, including Upbit, Bithumb, Coin One, Cobit, and Gopax, represent more than 30% of the estimated 51.23 million people who live in the East Asian nation.
The report says the number of crypto investors has been on the rise likely as a result of market optimism following the victory of US President-elect Donald Trump, who has promised to support the virtual asset industry.
The number of domestic crypto investors rose by 14.74 million in July, 14.82 million in August, 4.88 million in September and 14.98 million in October, increasing by around 100,000 per month.
Total crypto holdings also increased from 586 trillion won ($398.48 billion) in July to 102.6 trillion won ($69.768 billion) in November. The amount of average daily transactions likewise surged from 2.9 trillion won ($1.972 billion) in July to 14.9 trillion won ($10.132 billion) in November.
Lim says the scale of crypto asset transactions is fast approaching a level comparable to the stock market.
“At the level of all governments, preparations are needed to improve the stability of the virtual asset market and establish a sound market transaction that protects the rights and interests of users.”