Report says won accounts for 30% of global crypto spot trading

The South Korean won is the second-most active fiat currency in the digital-asset market after the U.S. dollar, accounting for about 30% of global spot trading volume, Pinboard reported, citing a joint report by RedStone and Kaia. The report said the institutional conditions needed to use South Korea’s deep won liquidity for on-chain lending or as collateral in decentralized finance remain insufficient. It added that net stablecoin outflows from South Korea’s five major won-based exchanges have stayed negative for 18 straight months, with cumulative net outflows reaching 14.92 trillion won ($10.4 billion). The report attributed that trend to delays in establishing a legal framework for won-denominated stablecoins, and said that if they are brought into the regulatory fold, their use could expand beyond payments to DeFi collateral and settlement assets for tokenized securities.