Korbit’s payroll crypto sale exposes squeeze on South Korea’s licensed exchanges
Mirae Asset-backed Korbit is selling BTC and ETH reserves to fund operations as Korean exchange volumes hit a two-year low.
Korbit, one of South Korea’s five licensed cryptocurrency exchanges, has confirmed it will sell 15 BTC and 60 ETH between 3 and 31 July to cover operating costs, including payroll, as trading activity across the country’s regulated platforms slumps to its lowest level in two years. The disclosure, reported by Crypto Briefing, illustrates how tighter compliance requirements and a shift in retail appetite towards equities are squeezing exchange revenues even at institutionally-backed platforms.
Korbit is owned by Mirae Asset, one of South Korea’s largest financial groups, and has a record of publicly disclosing treasury asset sales rather than offloading holdings quietly. Analysts cited by Crypto Briefing described the move as routine liquidity management rather than a sign of financial distress, given the exchange’s institutional backing.
Volumes at a two-year low
Combined weekly trading volume across South Korea’s five major exchanges — Upbit, Bithumb, Coinone, Korbit and Gopax — fell to roughly 9.97 trillion won, around $6.65 billion, in the week of 3 to 10 July. That marked a 25.75% drop from the previous week alone, according to figures reported by Crypto Briefing.
The decline is not confined to a single week. Monthly average volumes across the same platforms fell from 125.2 trillion won in the fourth quarter of 2025 to 98.1 trillion won in the first quarter of 2026, reflecting a broader multi-month contraction in activity that the outlet described as an 88% collapse from prior peaks. Fixed costs such as staffing, compliance infrastructure and technology maintenance have not fallen in step with fee income, leaving smaller and mid-sized exchanges exposed.
Capital rotation and regulatory costs
Crypto Briefing attributed part of the volume drop to South Korean investors redirecting funds towards domestic stock markets, alongside continued tightening of compliance requirements for exchanges that has raised operational costs and made it harder for smaller platforms to compete.
That rotation narrative sits somewhat uneasily against separate reporting from Protos, which noted that South Korea’s own stock exchange, the KRX, has triggered trading pauses 38 times this year, including 20 sidecar activations on the KOSPI and 10 on the KOSDAQ. The KOSPI fell 4.46% in one recent session and has dropped 28% over the past month, with the index reportedly more volatile than bitcoin during June. Chip giants SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics have also fallen 36% and 31% respectively over the past month, with tensions between the US and Iran, and continued disruption near the Strait of Hormuz, adding to broader market strain given South Korea’s heavy reliance on imported energy. Whether Korean retail investors are truly finding “stronger momentum” in equities, as exchanges suggest, is therefore an open question given the scale of volatility on the KRX itself.
Consolidation risk ahead
Korbit’s planned disposals are small enough that they are not expected to move bitcoin or ether prices. But the conditions forcing the sale point to a structural slowdown in one of the world’s historically most active retail crypto markets. Mirae Asset’s backing gives Korbit a cushion that smaller, independently owned exchanges lack, and analysts have flagged that continued volume declines could eventually force difficult decisions on staffing or even consolidation among South Korea’s licensed platforms.
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