South Korea's cryptocurrency market is caught in a "active but outflowing" predicament, with an estimated $110 billion flowing out to overseas platforms last year.

PANews reported on January 2nd, citing CoinDesk, that South Koreans transferred over 160 trillion won (approximately $110 billion) to foreign cryptocurrency exchanges last year due to domestic regulatory restrictions. Analysis indicates that the delayed implementation of South Korea's Digital Assets Basic Law created a regulatory vacuum, forcing investors to turn to overseas platforms. Research found that cryptocurrencies have become a major investment asset in South Korea, with the number of investors reaching 10 million, and exchanges like Upbit and Bithumb generating trillions of won in revenue. However, the report shows that while South Korean investors continue to actively trade cryptocurrencies and increasingly turn to overseas platforms like Binance and Bybit, the growth of domestic exchanges has stagnated. This regulatory vacuum has raised concerns among market participants, who worry that South Korean centralized cryptocurrency exchanges are increasingly struggling to compete with overseas platforms offering more complex trading products.