- Over 70% of investors in South Korea profited from crypto in 2024, with BTC, XRP, and ETH as top holdings.
- New investors surged by 33%, driven by Trump’s election news and Bitcoin ETF approvals.
The cryptocurrency market boomed in South Korea in 2024, with most investors seeing significant returns. Notably, Bitcoin (BTC), Ripple (XRP), and Ethereum (ETH) were the most widely held assets, traded primarily on Upbit and Binance.
Social media platforms like YouTube and Telegram play a key role in making investment decisions. Meanwhile, a wave of new entrants, making up a third of the market, rushed in, influenced by political and regulatory developments.
Market Optimism and Meme Frenzy
The rally in 2024 was fueled by growing optimism around U.S. crypto policies. Many in the U.S including South Korean investors, expected the Trump administration to introduce favorable regulations which it recently did.
In this case, President Donald J. Trump signed an Executive Order to establish a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and a U.S. Digital Asset Stockpile.
As a result, Bitcoin remains the most anticipated asset for 2025, with 75% of local investors predicting its price will surpass 150 million won, which is approximately $110,000.
At the time of press, BTC is trading at $87,248, down 1% in 24 hours.
XRP emerged as one of the top performers in 2024 thanks to major legal and institutional wins. Ripple’s partial victory against the U.S. SEC, which ruled that XRP is not a security in secondary market sales, boosted investor confidence.
Additionally, in a positive turn of events, the Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse, announced that SEC has dropped its lawsuit against the company. He declared in a video posted on the X platform on Wednesday, announcing the end of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s 5 year’s long lawsuit against Ripple.
Growing adoption of XRP by banks and payment providers in Asia, including Japan and South Korea, drove demand. These developments helped XRP outperform many altcoins, making it a lucrative choice for traders seeking stability alongside high growth potential. XRP is trading at $2.36%, down 4% in the last 24 hours.
Ethereum also had a standout year, fueled by key upgrades and institutional adoption. The successful completion of Ethereum’s Dencun upgrade in early 2024 reduced layer-2 transaction fees, making the network more scalable and attractive for developers. Major financial institutions, including BlackRock and Fidelity, launched Ethereum-based ETFs, mirroring the success of Bitcoin ETFs.
Additionally, Ethereum’s dominance in decentralized finance (DeFi) and non-fungible tokens (NFTs) continued to grow, solidifying its position as the leading platform for smart contracts and dApps.ETH is currently trading at $2,024, down 2.34% in the last 24 hours.
Interestingly, while decentralized exchanges (DEXs) remain underutilized, meme coins have captured over half of local investments. This trend is largely driven by centralized exchanges like Bithumb, which listed 16 meme coins, including $DOGE, $TRUMP, and $PENGU, by February 2025, far outpacing Upbit’s six listings.