89% of Delisted Tokens Were Single-Exchange Listings, South Korean Regulators Warn
Summary
- Authorities said 89% of the virtual assets whose trading support was halted in the first half were single-exchange listings traded on only one exchange.
- Among virtual assets circulating in South Korea, single-exchange listings accounted for about 35%, and their valuation was around 1% of the total.
- Financial authorities warned that investors need to watch for market risks including thin liquidity, sharp price volatility and project risk.
Forecast Trend Report by Period
40% of single-exchange listings valued at less than $72,000
Trading support suspensions jump 64% from the second half of last year
Nearly 89% of the virtual assets that lost trading support on South Korean exchanges in the first half were tokens listed on only one venue, government data showed. Financial authorities warned that many of those tokens were small, making them vulnerable to thin liquidity and sharp price swings.
According to the First-Half 2026 Survey of Virtual Asset Service Providers, released on October 2 by the Korea Financial Intelligence Unit and the Financial Supervisory Service, 76 virtual assets lost trading support in the first half, excluding duplicates. Of those, 68 were single-exchange listings, or about 89%.
Including duplicate cases across exchanges, the number of trading support suspensions totaled 108, up 64% from 66 in the second half of last year. In won-denominated markets, the figure rose to 101 from 54. By contrast, total new listings fell 46% to 135 from 250. Investor-caution designations increased to 139 from 95.
Of the 673 virtual assets circulating domestically at the end of June, 234 were single-exchange listings. That was down by 62 from the end of last year, but still accounted for about 35% of all tokens. Domestic holdings of those assets were valued at about $434 million, or roughly 1% of the total value of all virtual assets.
Among single-exchange listings, 93 tokens, or 40%, had domestic holdings valued at less than $72,000. That included 65 of 189 single-exchange listings in won markets and 28 of 45 in coin markets. The report said investors need to watch for market risks including thin liquidity and sharp price volatility.
Price swings were also steeper for those tokens. In the first half, the average decline from the high to the low for single-exchange virtual assets was 77%, compared with 69% for all virtual assets. The measure reflects the gap between the highest and lowest prices during the period divided by the high, and differs from year-to-date returns.
By reason for trading support suspension, project risk, including concerns about business continuity and issuing foundations, accounted for the largest share at 40%. Market risk, including weak liquidity and steep price drops, followed at 25%. Investor-protection risk made up 13%, while technical risk and other reasons each accounted for 11%.
