Seoul: The value of South Korea's virtual asset market dipped 8 percent in the second half of last year from six months earlier, largely on falling prices of key cryptocurrencies, data showed Wednesday.

According to Yonhap News Agency, the market capitalization of the virtual asset market came to 87.2 trillion won (US$58.4 billion) as of end-December, down 7.9 trillion won from six months ago. This decline is attributed to decreasing prices of major cryptocurrencies. However, the total value of Korean won deposits made by traders increased by 1.9 trillion won, or 31 percent, to 8.1 trillion won during the July-December period. Despite the increase in deposits, the operating profit of market operators dipped 38 percent to 381 billion won over the same period.

There were 27 virtual asset market operators in South Korea as of end-2025, including 18 crypto exchanges, according to the financial regulator. During the July-December period, the average value of daily crypto transactions reached 5.4 trillion won, marking a 15 percent decrease from the daily average of 6.4 trillion won in the first half of 2025.

The number of market users gained 3 percent to approximately 11.13 million during the cited period. The data also revealed that 1,732 types of cryptocurrency, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Dogecoin, were traded in the South Korean market as of December, an increase of 194 from six months earlier.

The max drawdown rate of cryptocurrencies, which indicates price volatility, stood at 73 percent as of end-December, up 1 percentage point from six months earlier, according to the data.