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1Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches2Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems3Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteSouth Korea has unusually strong crypto-market demand, but it ranks much lower as a place to build and run crypto businesses that serve customers across borders. In The Block’s Global Crypto Competitiveness Index (GCCI) 2026, Korea ranks 12th of 15 jurisdictions overall. It places sixth for market context, 13th for domestic regulation, and last for cross-border openness. These are The Block’s rankings within its own framework, not universal measures of adoption or market size.
The gap is the useful lesson. Trading activity does not make a country business-friendly. Banking access, licensing, custody rules, permitted products and cross-border rules decide whether a firm can actually operate, and those are the areas where Korea scores weakest. The figures below come from The Block’s country profile by Ian Devendorf and Ivan Wu, published October 8, 2026. It is a point-in-time snapshot, so the status of pending policies should be read as of that date.
What the index measures and where Korea lands
The GCCI covers 17 factors in four categories. Market context measures demonstrated demand, including trading volume and ownership. Industry covers the established business base, talent and capital. Regulation and access covers licensing, banking, custody and permitted products. Cross-border openness covers international operations and investment.
| GCCI category | What it covers | Korea’s position (The Block) |
|---|---|---|
| Overall | 17 factors across four categories, weighted unequally | 12th of 15 |
| Market context | Demonstrated demand, including volume and ownership | 6th |
| Industry | Established business base, talent and capital | Not stated in The Block’s profile |
| Regulation and access | Licensing, banking, custody and permitted products; domestic regulation | 13th for domestic regulation |
| Cross-border openness | International operations and investment | Last (15th of 15) |
The categories do not carry equal weight. The Block says regulation and access is weighted more heavily than market context, so high volume cannot by itself offset major operating or international barriers. That weighting explains how a sixth-place demand result can sit beside a 12th-place overall ranking.
Why Korea’s demand ranks high
The Block attributes Korea’s early surge to a digitally connected population, an active retail investor base, familiarity with tradable digital goods through online gaming, and easy access to won-denominated altcoin markets. Users could often buy altcoins directly with won, rather than routing funds through several exchanges. That made participation quicker than in markets where altcoins were mostly bought with bitcoin.
The figures in this section are The Block’s reported numbers drawn from older surveys and estimates. They are not audited statistics, and each should be read with the date attached.
Retail participation at the 2017 peak
The Block cites a 2017 survey by Saramin of 941 office workers. Of those surveyed, 31.3% reported investing in virtual currencies in December 2017, with an average position of 5.56 million won. 54.2% cited “the fastest way to make money.” The Block’s summary does not give the base for that percentage. These are 2017 results and are not a measure of current participation.
Won-denominated trading in 2017
The profile also reports an estimate that Korean won-denominated trading accounted for about 21% of global crypto volume by December 2017. That is a 2017 estimate, not a figure for today.
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The 2017 token-issuance ban and the real-name account system
September 2017: token issuance banned
The Block describes a September 2017 government action that prohibited token issuance. The announcement cited speculative trading and fraud linked to initial coin offerings (ICOs). The prohibition applied to issuing entities, and some Korean teams moved their foundations offshore while continuing to operate from Korea. The Block also attributes to Financial Services Commission (FSC) Vice Chairman Kim Yong-beom a characterization of speculative and unproductive investment flows. That is a paraphrase in the profile, so check the original FSC announcement before quoting it.
January and February 2018: closure debate ends in real-name accounts
A proposed shutdown of exchanges briefly became a public controversy in January 2018. By February, according to The Block, the government chose regulation over closure and introduced real-name trading accounts. That structure is the foundation for the bank dependence described below.
Banks as the gatekeepers of won access
Under the real-name system The Block describes, won deposits depend on two conditions:
- the exchange holds a contract with a commercial bank
- each customer has a verified bank account in their own name
Banks therefore control the fiat on-ramp and carry anti-money-laundering responsibilities. A decision by a bank to partner, or not, can determine who an exchange is able to onboard.
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- Min Jin Lee (Author), Lee Mijung (Translator)
- 구상부터 탈고까지 30년이 걸린 대작! 차별받는 이민자의 투쟁적 삶을 일제강점기에서부터 장장 80년에 걸쳐 그려낸 재일 한국인의 가슴 아픈 역사!
- ‘역사가 우리를 망쳐 놨지만 그래도 상관없다.’ - 어디에도 속하지 못했던 자이니치들의 도전과 생존의 역사 《파친코》
- 운명을 예측할 수 없는 도박 같은 재일교포의 삶. 발버둥 쳐도 헤어날 수 없는 ‘인생’이라는 이름의 굴레. 진솔한 서사와 치열한 작가 정신의 승리.
Upbit’s K Bank partnership
The Block says Upbit could not onboard new won-account customers for a period before it secured K Bank as its partner in June 2020. It attributes Upbit’s later growth partly to that partnership and to a digital onboarding path. Between June 2020 and July 2021, Upbit added 4.2 million users, compared with 820,000 for Bithumb. By August 2021 it held about 80% of Korean trading volume. These are 2020–2021 figures as The Block reports them. The 80% share is a 2021 measure, not a current market-share figure.
The lesson is structural. Because access to customers ran through banking relationships, a change in a bank partnership could reshape competition quickly.
Investor protection after Terra-Luna
The Block says the 2022 collapse of Terra-Luna accelerated a shift away from access controls and virtual asset service provider (VASP) registration, toward investor protection and market conduct. It describes the Virtual Asset User Protection Act as passed in June 2023. According to its summary, the law provides:
- customer-asset safeguards
- requirements for cold storage, and for insurance or reserves
- prohibitions on specified unfair trading
- supervisory powers for the FSC
This is The Block’s summary, not legal guidance. Thresholds, implementing rules and current enforcement should be confirmed with the FSC or with Korean counsel before a firm makes operating decisions.
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Two developments in The Block’s profile point toward wider participation by companies and institutions. Neither is a general opening.
A qualified-investor pilot
The profile describes a pilot under which 3,500 companies and investment corporations could register for investment-purpose real-name accounts. The eligibility criteria and the activities permitted in those accounts are the details to confirm with official sources.
BitGo Korea registers as a VASP
The Block reports that BitGo Korea became the first global entity to register as a VASP in summer 2026, and that it could offer custody services to Korean companies and institutions. Custody is one of the elements the index places under regulation and access, so this registration matters for institutional users. The exact scope of the registration should be confirmed before assuming which services it covers.
Policy items still in progress
The profile identifies three developing policy questions and a dated tokenization plan. The table lists each one as The Block describes it on October 8, 2026.
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|---|---|---|
| Spot Bitcoin ETFs | Targeted for later in 2026 | Whether approval and listing have happened |
| Won-denominated stablecoins | Issuer governance is actively debated, including a bank-led proposal | Whether any rules have been enacted, and who may issue |
| Second phase of the Digital Asset Basic Act | Named as a developing policy question; no timetable stated in the profile | Legislative status and content |
| Tokenized equities | Phased rollout beginning February 2027, initially focused on privately placed assets | Whether regulators have confirmed the phasing |
Treat these as plans and policy debate, not launched products or enacted law.
How to read the ranking for a business decision
The GCCI is a comparative framework. It shows where a country’s conditions score well or poorly relative to peers. It is not a forecast of returns, and it does not replace legal review. To compare Korea with another jurisdiction, score both on the same four categories. For Korea, the regulation and access questions come first:
- Banking: can the business obtain a commercial-bank relationship for won flows, and can its customers open real-name accounts?
- Licensing: which registration or license applies to the activity, and what is its current status?
- Custody: who may hold customer assets, and under which safeguards?
- Products: which products are permitted now, and which are only planned?
- Cross-border rules: what can the firm do for overseas clients, and what can it move across borders?
Korea’s last place for cross-border openness describes how the index scores jurisdictional openness. It does not mean Korean users or companies cannot operate internationally. The trade-off the profile points to is straightforward. Strong local participation supplies customers and liquidity, while strict controls can add operating friction or limit international business. On The Block’s weighting, the question that matters most for a business is access, not demand.
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