South Korean investors face mounting altcoin losses as delistings pile up

South Korea’s five largest won-based crypto exchanges have indiscriminately added substandard altcoins for trading, raising the likelihood of growing investor losses, Hankyung Business reported. According to data lawmaker Park Sung-hoon of the ruling People Power Party, a member of the National Policy Committee, received from South Korea’s five largest won-based exchanges — Upbit, Bithumb, Coinone, Korbit and GOPAX — the platforms newly listed a combined 1,236 altcoins from 2022 through the end of July this year. Over the same period, they ended trading support for 430 altcoins. By exchange, GOPAX had the highest delisting ratio, ending trading support for 67 of the 106 altcoins it newly listed, or 63.2%. Coinone posted a 46.6% delisting ratio, followed by Bithumb at 31.5%, Korbit at 20.3% and Upbit at 19.2%. The outlet noted that if this structure continues, exchanges are likely to expand the number of tradable assets and trading volumes through new listings, while investors may increasingly bear losses as problematic virtual assets are removed only after issues emerge.