Cross-border transfers through the five largest won-denominated exchanges reached KRW 163.55 trillion, overtaking the roughly KRW 159 trillion handled by the country’s five biggest banks.
South Korea’s largest crypto exchanges have, for the first time, processed more cross-border transfers than the country’s major banks. The five biggest won-denominated exchanges handled KRW 163.55 trillion ($125.8 billion) last year, up 380% from KRW 34.02 trillion in 2022, while the five biggest banks grew foreign-currency remittance volume by about 20% to KRW 159 trillion over the same period. Professor Hwang Seok-jin of Dongguk University said lower fees are a main driver, with South Koreans living abroad and traders in Southeast Asia and the Middle East turning to faster, cheaper crypto-based channels. Major financial firms are also moving to participate rather than compete solely from the sidelines, with KBank working with Ripple on wallet-app-based remittances to the UAE and Thailand, Toss Bank partnering with Solana on cross-border payments and settlement, and Hana Bank and other financial groups taking stakes in crypto platforms. The shift is unfolding as lawmakers delay debate on the Digital Asset Basic Act until later this year after the June 3 local elections, with the Financial Services Commission and the Bank of Korea still split over stablecoin oversight, reserve rules, enforcement powers and whether interest-bearing stablecoins should be allowed.