The post South Korea crypto liquidity tumbles as stablecoin balances plunge 55% and stock heat up appeared on BitcoinEthereumNews.com.

Stablecoin balances in South Korea have fallen sharply since July even as stock inflows rise, underscoring a shift in where money is flowing. The total amount of these so-called tokenized versions of fiat currencies held in wallets tied to South Korea’s five largest crypto exchanges have plunged 55%, with on-chain data pointing to a sharp wave of outflows triggered by the won’s break past 1,500 per dollar in mid-March. Data from Allium Labs, tracking Ethereum and Tron wallets across Upbit, Bithumb, Coinone, Korbit, and GOPAX, shows that combined stablecoin holdings dropped from $575 million in July 2025 to roughly $188 million as of mid-March, with the decline accelerating as the won slid to 16-year lows against the dollar. (Stablecoin holdings on Korean exchanges/Allium Labs compiled by Bradley Park) The timing suggests traders sold tether at elevated USD/KRW levels after the won weakened past 1,500 per dollar in mid-March, a threshold not seen since the 2008 financial crisis. The weaker currency amplified the incentive to exit dollar-denominated holdings, with traders converting into won and redeploying into domestic assets, according to DNTV Research founder Bradley Park. The outflows mark the latest phase of a broader migration of Korean retail capital from crypto into equities, a shift CoinDesk first documented in November. But where that earlier rotation was driven largely by narrative, with traders chasing AI-linked chipmakers as altcoin momentum faded, the latest drawdown appears tied to a specific FX trigger rather than a change in risk appetite. South Korea’s government has since intensified efforts to attract capital into domestic markets through new policies such as “repatriation” accounts that offer up to 100% capital gains tax exemptions for investors who sell overseas assets and reinvest locally. That shift is visible in brokerage data. Investor deposits, a proxy for cash available to buy stocks,…

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Filed under: News - @ March 23, 2026 4:25 am