From 85% to 9%: Korean exchanges' listing logic has changed dramatically—tokens are safer, but business is harder?

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

Compiled by: TechFlow

TechFlow Introduction:As one of the most active global crypto markets for retail trading, listing trends in Korea's KRW market have historically had significant liquidity spillover effects on global secondary markets. Since the implementation of the Act on Reporting and Using Specified Financial Transaction Information in 2021 and the formation of the Digital Asset eXchange Alliance (DAXA) by five major exchanges, listing standards in the Korean market have undergone profound institutional change.

Detailed statistics from on-chain data think tank Bonanza Lab on Upbit, Bithumb, Coinone, Korbit, and Gopax show that the share of Korea-only altcoin first listings fell sharply from 85% to single digits after regulation took effect, while assets with more than two years of mature trading history on major overseas exchanges became the focus of review. Although this regulatory evolution has significantly reduced risk warnings and delisting risks, it has also weakened trading fee revenue from first-day surges, forcing Korean exchanges to explore the endgame of business transformation.

Regulatory framework gradually takes shape, share of Korea-only first listings falls significantly

As Korea's crypto regulatory framework is gradually established and refined, the proportion of pure Korea-only listings has declined sharply.

Figure: Trend in the share of Korea-only first listings among Korea's five major KRW exchanges (2019 to 2026)

The figure above shows the evolution of the share of pure Korea-only assets among new KRW trading pairs on the five regulated KRW platforms: Upbit, Bithumb, Coinone, Korbit, and Gopax.

This share fell markedly from 85% in 2019 to 9% in 2024. Compared with key milestones in Korea's virtual asset regulation, the path of institutional evolution is clear.

This shift began with the Act on Reporting and Using Specified Financial Transaction Information (the Specified Financial Transaction Information Act). The act took effect in March 2021 and required all trading platforms to complete official real-name registration by September 2021.

For the KRW market, obtaining bank-verified real-name accounts became a mandatory legal requirement, and exchanges had to strictly enforce traditional finance-level anti-money laundering (AML) compliance standards. These standards are estimated to have directly reshaped exchanges' listing decisions.

In fact, the number of pure Korea-only first listings fell sharply from 19 per quarter to only 3 in Q3 2021 (the registration deadline quarter). Since then, listing candidates in the Korean market have shifted comprehensively to assets with prior overseas trading records.

This was followed by common listing review standards for exchanges. In 2022, the five KRW exchanges jointly formed the Digital Asset eXchange Alliance (DAXA) and established unified review guidelines; their best practice guidelines for listings took effect in July 2024.

Although the guidelines do not make overseas listing an absolute prerequisite, they stipulate that assets traded on compliant overseas exchanges for more than two years may be deemed to automatically meet basic review requirements such as white papers and disclosures.

In 2026 (as of October), the share of pure Korea-only first listings rose slightly to 18%, but if assets that first traded on overseas futures markets are excluded, the actual share remains at a very low level of 10%.

Total listings increase against the trend, timing dynamically adjusts with market cycles

Although the share of pure Korea-only first listings has shrunk sharply, this does not mean the total number of listings by Korean exchanges is decreasing.

Figure: Number of new listings in Korea's KRW market and distribution of overseas trading history

Statistics show that the total number of new listings in the KRW markets of Upbit and Bithumb increased from 43 in 2022 to 116 in 2023, reached 125 in 2024, and rose to 238 in 2025.

The length of time an asset trades overseas before entering the Korean market shows a strong cyclical correlation with overall market conditions.

When Bitcoin priced in KRW was near all-time highs in 2025, as many as 111 assets were introduced to the Korean market within 30 days of their overseas listing, accounting for 47% of the year's total listings.

In sharp contrast, in 2026, mature assets that had been trading overseas for more than one year became the main source of new listings, totaling 52 (31%). Even established tokens that had been trading overseas for more than six years, such as CRV and RSR, were officially introduced to the Korean market during this period.

As a result, Korean exchanges' listing practices have changed significantly: on the one hand, they have maintained the access framework established during the regulatory formation period, centered on assets already listed overseas; on the other hand, they flexibly advance or delay specific listing timing according to secondary-market conditions.

Improved post-listing stability and a significantly lower default and delisting rate for mature overseas assets

As the share of assets with an established overseas trading history continues to rise, the overall stability of tokens after listing in Korea has improved significantly.

Chart: Changes in the share of assets designated as investment warnings or delisted within two years of listing

The share of assets placed on exchanges' 'investment warning' lists or announced to terminate trading (delisted) within two years after listing steadily declined from 24% for the 2020 listing batch to 10% for the 2024 batch.

Assets with different listing profiles diverged sharply in risk outcomes. Among all assets listed between 2020 and 2024, 44 of the 148 purely domestic first-listing tokens (30%) were placed on warning lists or delisted within two years; by contrast, only 26 of the 279 assets that first traded overseas (9%) experienced such outcomes, less than one-third the violation-warning rate of domestic first-listing tokens.

Overseas trading history and price resilience: first-month price volatility tends to flatten

At the same time, the length of an asset's overseas trading history has had a decisive impact on its secondary-market price trajectory after listing in Korea.

Chart: Median price decline 30 days after listing for assets with different overseas trading histories

Based on statistical medians, assets urgently introduced into Korea within 30 days after their overseas listing experienced a median price decline of as much as 39% within 30 days of their Korean listing; by contrast, mature assets with more than one year of overseas trading history had a median price decline of only 7% 30 days after listing.

In short, assets that first traded overseas are less likely to be placed on investment-warning lists or delisted after listing in Korea; among these assets, the longer their overseas trading history, the smaller the price drawdown during their initial listing period in Korea.

Because best-practice listing guidelines have effectively reduced the review burden for such mature assets, even if listing schedules are dynamically adjusted with bull and bear markets, Korean exchanges are likely to keep their listing focus anchored in mature assets with long overseas trading histories over the long term.

New challenges for exchanges: cooling liquidity and revenue transformation beyond listings

However, a listing model that over-prioritizes overseas trading history is not entirely good news for exchanges.

Chart: First-day trading volume share and exchange fee-dependency model

This is because established assets that have already traded extensively overseas often generate relatively limited speculative trading volume on their first day of listing in Korea.

Since the vast majority of Korean exchanges' operating revenue is highly dependent on spot-trading fees, newly listed tokens that lack first-day explosive volume may directly weigh on exchanges' profitability.

Of course, if a future bull market resumes, listings of emerging popular assets that have just been released overseas may increase again, easing revenue pressure in the short term. But if exchanges rely only on a market-following listing structure, it will be difficult to build a stable, cycle-resistant, sustainable business model.

With the maturation of regulatory compliance systems, the security and stability of listed assets have indeed improved substantially. The core challenge Korean exchanges now truly face is how to develop new trading demand and diversified revenue sources beyond listing-driven growth.

Note: The data and statistical support in this article were provided by the on-chain research firm Bonanza Lab (https://bonanzalab.io).

Source: TechFlow