{"id":71154,"date":"2023-10-10T19:02:26","date_gmt":"2023-10-10T23:02:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/markets\/crypto\/crypto-market-capitalization-rose-46-in-h1-2023-but-still-down-48-5-from-2021-close-kofiu-report\/"},"modified":"2023-10-10T19:02:29","modified_gmt":"2023-10-10T23:02:29","slug":"crypto-market-capitalization-rose-46-in-h1-2023-but-still-down-48-5-from-2021-close-kofiu-report","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/?p=71154","title":{"rendered":"Crypto Market Capitalization Rose 46% in H1 2023 But Still Down 48.5% From 2021 Close: KOFIU Report"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Despite a turbulent close to 2022, the South Korean cryptocurrency market appeared to have picked up momentum in 2023.\u00a0<\/p>\n

According to a Korean Financial Intelligence Unit (KOFIU) report<\/u>, the South Korean crypto market surged 46% to attain a valuation of 28.4 trillion won (about $21.08 billion) between January and June 2023.\u00a0<\/p>\n

This follows a dismal 2022, which saw the market valuation dip to 19.4 trillion won.<\/p>\n

Despite this upswing, the anti-money laundering agency (KOFIU) argued that crypto investments have not yet reclaimed the highs of 2021.\u00a0<\/p>\n

According to its press release, the performance of the first half of 2023 is significantly lower as the nascent industry closed at 55.4 trillion won (about $40.9 billion) at the height of the crypto boom.\u00a0<\/p>\n

This figure indicates that the uptick of the first half of 2023 is still down by 48.5% compared to its 2021 close.<\/p>\n

Shedding light on how it garnered its result, KOFIU stated that it carried out its survey on 26 highly liquid cryptocurrency exchanges and investment firms.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The unit also pulled their data from nine crypto wallet and custody providers, bringing the total to 35 crypto-facing businesses. There was also a stated increase in the number of listed assets.\u00a0<\/p>\n

According to the financial intelligence arm, cryptocurrency listings increased from 1,362 in 2022 to 1,399 in the first months of this year.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Further insights emerged from their findings. KOFIU reported that the average daily trading volume from January to June 2023 was approximately 2.9 trillion won (about $2.19 billion).\u00a0<\/p>\n

This represents a 1.3% decrease from 2.94 trillion won (about $2.21 billion) in the final quarter of 2022.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Moreover, cryptocurrency investors fell from 6.27 million in 2022 to 6.06 million traders in 2023. This drop represents a 3% decline in investor participation in the decentralized economy.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Crypto Firms Facing Tough Times<\/h2>\n

2022 was a trying period for crypto-facing businesses after a meteoric rise in 2021. The nascent industry got hit with major macroeconomic events and industry-related issues.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The first was the Terra blockchain collapse, which wiped off over half a trillion dollars from the $2.92 trillion strong market.\u00a0<\/p>\n

<\/oembed><\/figure>\n

Rounding the year with even more unpleasantness, the FTX exchange crumbled, and its founder and CEO, Sam Bankman-Fried, was charged with fraud-related crimes by the US authorities.\u00a0<\/p>\n

These issues have dampened confidence in the crypto market, and trading firms have been negatively impacted.<\/p>\n

According to KOFIU, about 10 surveyed crypto trading firms struggled to maintain operations due to a sharp decline in volumes traded and transaction fees earned.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The strong crypto winter also saw crypto fundraises drop to $2.1 billion a quarter for most cryptocurrency exchanges.<\/p>\n

Nonetheless, a sliver of hope remains as the total operating profit shot up by 82% from its 2022 close.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n