Gradually calming Korean cryptocurrency investors... Exilist analyzes market changes in 2025

Based on the analysis of Exilist(Exilist), the Korean cryptocurrency market in 2025, despite appearing active on the surface, can be summarized as a year of steady internal change. Although projects are flooding in and the industry is busy, the traditional liquidity-centered “speculation” mechanism has weakened, and the behavior patterns of market participants have also undergone significant changes. The unique charm of the Korean market still exists, but the focus is shifting toward leverage, regulatory frameworks, and the fundamental value of practical applications.

Traditionally, global projects’ attention to the Korean market has stemmed from its high trading volume and price volatility. Phenomena such as the surge in asset prices after listing and concentrated inflows into specific tokens, along with the concept of “Upbit premium,” have attracted much attention. However, Exilist’s diagnosis suggests that in 2025, although Upbit and Bithumb both launched numerous new projects, the initial overheat phenomenon has diminished, and liquidity dispersion is accelerating.

This trend is also associated with some structural changes. The possibility of government-led listing reviews, the comprehensive equity swap between Naver and Dunamu, and other factors have triggered exchange restructuring, leading to changes in listing policies, which is one of the reasons for diluting Korea’s iconic concentrated liquidity. As a result, the correlation between token circulation and attention has become less obvious than before.

Most notably, changes in retail investors’ behavior are worth paying attention to. According to analysis citing data from the Financial Committee, in the first half of 2025, the number of virtual asset users has increased, but the average transaction amount and deposit balances have decreased. This indicates that it is not a decline in market participation but an increase in risk aversion. Judgments to buy new tokens have become more conservative, and for airdrops, the strategy of “selling immediately after receipt” has become a common market practice.

This market sentiment has also affected project operation methods. The traditional textbook template of VC investment → launch → marketing → airdrop → TGE → listing is no longer trusted. This particularly exposes the structural limitations of marketing strategies focused on short-term hype, which fail to translate into liquidity. Strategies like Yapping and Infopi, centered on short-term exposure, have not been able to form a fan base or attract long-term users, as evidenced by the increasing user loss of Kaito Yapping.

Ultimately, the middle ground of growth for altcoins based on market trust has disappeared, showing a clear polarization trend: “utility tokens based on actual application” and “theme tokens driven by short-term hype.” During this process, the one-time viral spread structure based on Telegram is gradually provoking ridicule among retail investors, with the phrase “not becoming smarter, but becoming more calm” aptly summarizing this phenomenon.

Exilist specifically points out that the lack of altcoins is a key structural constraint. Liquidity concentrated in specific speculative areas and a society where narratives cannot influence actual investment judgments are causing fatigue across the entire market. Under conditions of fair participation opportunities and limited expansion, barriers to entry are increasing, and investor trust in reward structures is waning.

Nevertheless, the Korean market still contains untapped opportunities. Compared to the ten million registered users on Upbit, the retail user base active on platforms like Telegram is estimated at around fifty thousand. As a solution to narrow this gap, the rise of Korean won stablecoins is underway, and the possibility of large domestic tech companies restructuring wallet services and user ecosystems based on this has also been proposed. This could clearly become a turning point for bringing new Web2 user groups into cryptocurrency.

Furthermore, an ecosystem structure capable of generating revenue, maintaining users, and withstanding regulatory environments is becoming a standard for project valuation. Exilist predicts that after 2026, teams meeting these standards will be at the center of the next cycle, and it is believed that in a market after the romantic phase, “who will redefine the standards” will become a more important competitive factor.