South Korean Youth Turn to Crypto Amid Economic Desperation
Usage of cryptocurrency is becoming increasingly popular in South Korea, but both local and foreign analysts say the driving force isn’t optimism or confidence in blockchain. Instead, youth are turning more towards digital assets as a money escape from economic stagnation.
Talking at German Blockchain & AI Week, Anzaetek’s CPO Eli Ilha Yune, said South Korean crypto traders aren’t motivated by a desire for Web3. “The motive isn’t coming from believing in Web3 like in the West,” he asserted. “But desperation.”
More than 16 million South Koreans, or more than 30% of the population, were exchanging on cryptocurrency exchanges by late March, a figure increased in part by Donald Trump’s U.S. presidential election victory. But this bubble disguises a deeper economic reality, particularly for those under the age of 30.
2025 Korea Wealth Report shows that younger richer South Koreans have three times as much crypto as their elders. However, Yune claims this is not a result of belief in blockchain potential.
South Korea’s youth unemployment rate was 6.6% in May—almost twice the nation’s 2.7% average. GDP per capita in 2021 was at its high point, and good-paying job prospects have become increasingly and more, more constricted.
Yune argued that South Korean youths are members of the generation who came of age in a high-growth economy that has slowed down significantly. “They don’t get much returns on the stock market,” he said, and real estate is even more out of their reach.
In Seoul, the price of apartments on average has increased more than twice in half a decade to over 1 billion won ($689,000). The price-to-income ratio in the capital stands at 15.2, rendering home ownership a fantasy for most.
“They cannot afford houses anymore,” Yune said. “Even renting is out of their reach. So their only option is to do crypto.”
President Lee Jae-myung’s administration is pushing for greater institutional integration of crypto into South Korea’s economy, including potential issuance of a national stablecoin. The central bank also said that it was willing to have a Korean won-backed digital currency.
Despite government support, Yune said that a majority of young traders were not even knowledgeable about crypto. “They’re not really interested in crypto,” he said. “They’re seeking easy money.”.
