From 85% Down to 9%: Korean Exchange Listing Standards Have Shifted Dramatically—Tokens Are Safer, But Business Is Harder?

Author: tranks (@heytranks, data provided by Bonanza Lab)

Compiled by TechFlow

TechFlow: As one of the most active global hubs for retail crypto trading, the listing trends of South Korea’s Korean Won (KRW) market have historically exerted a significant liquidity spillover effect on the global secondary market. However, since the implementation of the Special Act on Reporting of Financial Transaction Information and Use in 2021, and the establishment of the Digital Asset Exchange Alliance (DAXA) by the country’s top five exchanges, the listing standards in the Korean market have undergone profound institutional shifts.

Detailed statistics from on-chain data think tank Bonanza Lab covering Upbit, Bithumb, Coinone, Korbit, and Gopax show that the proportion of domestically launched altcoins in South Korea plummeted from 85% to single digits after regulations took effect, while assets with over two years of mature trading history on major overseas exchanges became the focus of reviews. Although this regulatory evolution has significantly reduced the risks of investment warnings and delistings, it has also eroded trading fee revenues previously driven by first-day price surges, forcing Korean exchanges to explore endgame business transformations.

Regulatory Framework Takes Shape, Domestic-Only Listing Share Significantly Drops

As South Korea’s crypto regulatory framework is gradually established and refined, the share of purely domestic-only listings has seen a sharp decline.

Chart: Trend in the share of domestically launched tokens across South Korea's top five KRW exchanges (2019 to 2026)

The chart above illustrates the evolution of the proportion of purely domestic-only assets among newly added KRW trading pairs across the five regulated KRW platforms: Upbit, Bithumb, Coinone, Korbit, and Gopax.

This share dropped significantly from 85% in 2019 to 9% in 2024. Aligned with key milestones in South Korea’s virtual asset regulatory development, its institutional evolution path is very clear.

This shift began with the Special Act on Reporting of Financial Transaction Information and Use (commonly known as the Reporting Act). Effective in March 2021, it mandated that all trading platforms complete official real-name registration by September 2021.

For the KRW market, obtaining bank-verified accounts became a mandatory legal requirement, and exchanges were compelled to strictly enforce traditional finance-level anti-money laundering (AML) compliance standards. It is estimated that these compliance requirements directly reshaped exchange listing decisions.

In fact, the number of purely domestic-only listings dropped sharply from 19 per quarter to just 3 in Q3 2021 (the final quarter for registration filings), after which Korean exchanges completely shifted their listing targets to prioritize assets with established trading records overseas.

This was followed by unified listing review standards adopted by all exchanges. In 2022, the five KRW exchanges jointly formed the Digital Asset Exchange Alliance (DAXA), establishing uniform review guidelines. Their best practices for listing criteria officially took effect in July 2024.

Although the guidelines do not make overseas listing an absolute prerequisite, they stipulate that any asset with over two years of trading history on a compliant overseas exchange is deemed to automatically meet basic review requirements such as whitepaper publication and information disclosure.

In 2026 (through October), although the share of purely domestic-only listings slightly rebounded to 18%, excluding those that initially traded on overseas futures markets keeps the actual figure at a very low 10%.

Total Listings Defy the Downward Trend, Timed Dynamically According to Market Cycles

Despite the sharp contraction in the share of purely domestic-only listings, this does not mean the total number of listings by Korean exchanges has decreased.

Chart: Number of Newly Added KRW Market Listings and Overseas Trading Duration Distribution

Statistics show that the total number of new KRW market listings on the two mainstream platforms, Upbit and Bithumb, increased from 43 in 2022 to 116 in 2023, reached 125 in 2024, and surged to 238 in 2025.

The duration an asset trades overseas before entering the Korean market exhibits a high degree of cyclical correlation with broader market conditions.

In 2025, when Bitcoin was trading near historic highs against the KRW, no less than 111 assets were rapidly introduced to the Korean market within 30 days of their overseas launch, accounting for 47% of that year’s total listings.

In stark contrast, in 2026, mature assets with overseas trading histories exceeding one year became the primary drivers of new listings, totaling 52 (31%). Even legacy tokens that have traded overseas for over six years (such as CRV and RSR) were formally introduced to the Korean market during this period.

Consequently, the listing practices of Korean exchanges have changed significantly: they adhere to a core accession framework centered on assets already listed overseas, built during the early regulatory phase, while flexibly advancing or delaying specific listing timings based on secondary market sentiment.

Post-Listing Stability Improves, Default Delisting Rate for Mature Overseas Assets Drops Sharply

As the proportion of assets with established overseas trading bases continues to rise, the overall post-listing stability of tokens in South Korea has also improved significantly.

Chart: Changes in the Proportion of Assets Flagged for Investment Warnings or Delisted Within Two Years of Listing

The proportion of assets placed on exchanges’ “investment warning” lists or declared terminated for trading (delisted) within two years of listing steadily declined from 24% for the 2020 listing cohort to 10% for the 2024 cohort.

Risk profiles diverge drastically depending on listing attributes. Among all assets listed between 2020 and 2024, 44 out of 148 purely domestic-only tokens (30%) were flagged or delisted within two years; in contrast, only 26 out of 279 assets with prior overseas trading history (9%) faced such outcomes, yielding a warning rate less than one-third that of domestic-first listings.

Overseas Holding Period and Price Resilience, First-Month Volatility Tends to Stabilize

Meanwhile, the length of time an asset has traded overseas exerts a decisive influence on its secondary market performance after launching in South Korea.

Chart: Median Price Decline Comparison of Assets with Different Overseas Trading Histories 30 Days Post-Listing

Based on statistical medians, assets hastily introduced to Korea within 30 days of their overseas launches experienced median price declines of up to 39% in their first 30 days on Korean exchanges; by contrast, mature assets with over a year of overseas trading history saw median price drops of merely 7% after their first 30 days.

In short, assets with prior overseas trading experience face lower probabilities of being placed on investment warning lists or delisted upon launch in Korea; among these, the longer the overseas accumulation period, the smaller the initial price retracement on Korean exchanges.

Given that the best practices guidelines effectively reduce the review burden for such mature assets, even if listing schedules are dynamically adjusted according to bull or bear market conditions, Korean exchanges will likely maintain a long-term strategic focus on mature assets with extensive overseas trading histories.

New Challenges for Exchanges: Cooling Liquidity and Revenue Transformation Beyond Listing Fees

However, an over-reliance on overseas trading history for listing decisions does not constitute entirely good news for exchanges.

Chart: Day-One Trading Volume Share and Exchange Fee Dependency Model

This is because legacy assets that have already been fully traded overseas typically generate relatively limited speculative trading volume on their first day of listing in Korea.

Since the vast majority of revenue for Korean exchanges heavily relies on spot trading fees, newly listed tokens lacking strong day-one momentum can directly drag down exchange profitability.

Of course, if the next bull market triggers again, the number of newly launched hot assets overseas might see a resurgence, temporarily alleviating revenue pressures in the short term. But relying solely on trend-following listing structures makes it difficult for exchanges to build a stable, cycle-resilient, sustainable business model.

As the regulatory compliance system matures, the security and stability of listed assets have indeed improved substantially. The core challenge Korean exchanges truly face today lies in how to cultivate new trading demands and diversified revenue streams beyond mere listing-driven growth.

Note: Data and statistical support for this article are provided by on-chain research institute Bonanza Lab (https://bonanzalab.io).