Korea's Crypto Market Shifts Towards Institutional Investment

Korea's crypto market is shifting from retail-led speculation to institutional investment, with banks, brokerages, and tech platforms racing to secure a foothold before regulatory frameworks are finalized.

According to Tiger Research, which tracked 196 partnerships across 150 institutions, the key areas of competition are stablecoins, security token offerings (STOs), and custody. Companies are positioning themselves to influence future regulatory standards by establishing structures that will be difficult to change later.

Kakao has emerged as a major contender in the stablecoin market, with KakaoTalk, KakaoBank, and Kakao Pay forming a joint task force to build a 'super wallet' backed by the group's deep reach in the Korean market. Shinhan Card is also active in this area, focusing on converting its existing payment network into blockchain rails after signing a memorandum of understanding with Solana.

Brokerages are focused on STOs, with Hana Institute of Finance projecting that Korea's STO market will reach 367 trillion won ($242.8 billion) by 2030. Shinhan Securities has built out its own STO infrastructure, while Mirae Asset Securities has issued digital bonds and obtained a retail digital asset license in Hong Kong.