Key Highlights
- Eastern Asia’s crypto economy totaled approximately $1.2 trillion between July 2025 and June 2026, according to Chainalysis.
- South Korea led the region with $449 billion in crypto activity, marking a 12.3% increase from the previous period.
- AI-related cryptocurrencies became a major component of won-denominated trading, with Worldcoin recording the highest reported volume among the highlighted AI tokens.
A Chainalysis report shows Eastern Asia’s crypto economy totaled approximately $1.2 trillion in the period from July 2025 to June 2026. South Korea recorded the largest national total at $449 billion, up 12.3 percent from the prior period, followed by Hong Kong, Japan, and China.
According to the report, activity contracted modestly overall amid a global bear market, though results differed sharply by market.
South Korea’s exchange and AI activity
South Korea ranked fifth in Chainalysis’s grassroots adoption index. Growth stemmed from a 16.3 percent rise in the domestic exchange ecosystem and increased trading of AI-related cryptocurrencies. AI tokens accounted for the largest share of won-denominated trading volume by June 2026, exceeding payment tokens such as XRP.
Worldcoin led with $7.41 billion in volume, followed by SAHARA at $3.2 billion, VIRTUAL at $2.7 billion, BIO at $2 billion, and NEAR at $1.7 billion. Won-denominated AI-crypto activity stood 19.5 times higher than the corresponding yen rate and exceeded levels seen in other major currencies, including the Brazilian real, British pound, and euro.
No capital gains tax was applied to crypto profits during the study period. A 22 percent tax is scheduled for January 2027. Corporate trading remained restricted for most of the period; the government began easing a longstanding ban in February 2026. Financial institutions operated digital-asset teams and conducted pilots in stablecoins, tokenization, and custody, though large-scale investment activity had not yet materialized.
Hong Kong institutional flows
Hong Kong’s crypto economy reached $192 billion. Institutional platforms captured 16 percent of service inflows, nearly three times the share of any other market in the region and up from about 9 percent two years earlier. Custody providers, prime brokerage desks, and market-making operations accounted for 85 percent of that institutional category.
The city recorded nearly $24 billion in inbound service-to-service transfers, approximately six times Japan’s total and 44 times South Korea’s. Cumulative net business-to-business inflows reached $17.4 billion by mid-2026. Non-business channels showed consistent net outflows.
Japan’s Mixed Retail and Institutional Profile crypto economy totaled $228 billion. Decentralized exchanges held a 34.5 percent share of services activity, the highest among regional markets with established centralized exchanges. DEX inflows rose 36 percent. Approximately one in four users who withdrew funds from Japanese exchanges later deposited into DeFi protocols.
Store-of-value tokens such as bitcoin retained 73.8 percent of yen trading volume, though the share declined 4.32 percentage points. Smart-contract tokens, including Ethereum and Solana, increased their share from 10 percent to 15.4 percent. Retail traders continued to face a maximum marginal tax rate of 55 percent during the period. Tax reforms advanced in July 2026 after the study window closed.
China’s peer-to-peer expansion
China’s crypto economy was estimated at a minimum of $176 billion. Peer-to-peer activity accounted for 59.1 percent of the total, a 3.5-fold increase in share from the prior period. Stablecoin transfers for domestic payments rose steadily after March 2025, coinciding with expansion of the social credit system into finance and internet services.
Self-custodied stablecoin holdings turned over 33.2 times per year, more than three times the global average of 9.3 times. With average holdings of $3.1 billion, the market processed $104.1 billion across 18.1 million transfers.
South Korea Advances Tokenization and Digital Payments
Separately, South Korea’s Financial Services Commission proposed revisions on October 1, 2026, to permit tokenized securities under the Financial Investment Services and Capital Markets Act and the Electronic Registration Act.
The framework covers stocks, bonds, funds, and certain fractional investment securities issued and traded on distributed ledger technology. The rules are scheduled to take effect February 4, 2027, following a public comment period ending November 11, 2026.
In addition, the Ministry of Science and ICT approved a pilot on September 21, 2026, for blockchain-based deposit tokens in government payments. Public officials will use smartphone QR codes for eligible work-related expenses. Six banks, including KB Kookmin, NH NongHyup, Shinhan, Woori, IBK, and Hana, will participate.
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