South Korea Web3 Market Development Report Q1 2025: From Liquidity Destination to Industrial Ecosystem

In the first quarter of 2025, the South Korean Web3 market welcomed an important turning point. This market, which was once regarded as a global project "Liquidity Export," is gradually transforming into a structured autonomous industrial ecosystem.

Main Findings

• Regulatory Relaxation: The Financial Services Commission has introduced a roadmap to gradually allow institutional entities to conduct cryptocurrency transactions through corporate accounts.
• Ecosystem Development: Global projects like Avalanche, TON, Ripple, and Solana are actively establishing a long-term foundation in South Korea, focusing on developer community building and hackathon events.
• Market Transformation: The trend of shifting from a speculative-driven market to an industry revitalization-oriented market is becoming increasingly evident.

Market Status Analysis

Despite high retail participation and sufficient Liquidity, the institutional infrastructure development in South Korea's Web3 market remains limited. Regulatory focus is more on investor protection rather than ecological development, which has somewhat delayed the overall growth of the industry.

The main obstacles include:

1. The association between enterprise accounts and cryptocurrency exchanges is restricted.
2. The threshold for licensing virtual asset service providers ( VASP ) is high.

These institutional constraints, combined with the fact that investor activity far exceeds the maturity of the local ecosystem, have led some projects to view South Korea primarily as a customer acquisition channel. However, the market development in the first quarter of 2025 indicates that South Korea has the potential to transition from a speculation-driven market to an industry revitalization-oriented market.

System Progress: Relaxation of Cryptocurrency Trading for Enterprises

The Financial Services Commission announced the "Corporate Participation in the Cryptocurrency Market Roadmap" on February 13, 2025, planning to lift the seven-year restrictions on corporate cryptocurrency trading in three phases:

1. Phase One (Starting Q2 2025): Accounts will be opened to law enforcement agencies, non-profit organizations, and exchanges, limited to asset liquidation purposes.
2. Second Stage (Starting in the second half of 2025): Allow professional investors such as listed companies and registered investment companies to trade.
3. Phase Three (Medium to Long Term): Fully open the market to ordinary enterprises.

This policy change will lay the legal foundation for South Korean companies to conduct Web3 business, enhance market stability, and promote diversification of financial services. However, the phased relaxation of regulations may lead to an imbalance between supply and demand, creating downward pressure on prices. At the same time, as institutional investors enter the market, the government's efforts to strengthen tax management may increase.

Strategic Layout of Global Web3 Projects

Numerous international teams are actively recruiting Korean talent and establishing substantive cooperation, demonstrating a strategic shift from superficial marketing to building a sustainable, builder-led local ecosystem.

• Avalanche and the TON Foundation are building the ecosystem by directly supporting local teams in South Korea.
• XRPL Korea (Ripple) and Superteam Korea (Solana) are hosting a large-scale hackathon to nurture the builder community in Korea.

These measures not only support the growth of individual projects but also enhance the overall competitiveness of the Web3 industry in South Korea.

Conclusion

In the first quarter of 2025, the South Korean Web3 market will undergo a key transformation, shifting from an investment-driven environment to a mature industrial ecosystem. Regulatory progress lays the foundation for structured market participation, while ongoing ecological construction efforts of global Web3 projects support the long-term growth positioning of the South Korean market.

In addition, the South Korean central bank's digital currency ( CBDC ) "Han River Project" has successfully completed its first retail user real-world transaction, and major commercial banks are beginning to explore the issuance of Korean won stablecoins. In terms of infrastructure, the discussion of a "one exchange - multiple banks" system indicates potential structural breakthroughs.

In summary, the Web3 field in South Korea is evolving towards a sustainable industrial ecosystem, entering a new stage characterized by policy coordination, institutional participation, and the initial signs of industrial-level growth.