Cumulative net stablecoin transfers from South Korea hit 14.9 trillion won since January 2025, as offshore platforms offer perpetuals and tokenized equities. Regulators warn of capital control risks.
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South Korea recorded an 18th straight month of net stablecoin transfers to overseas exchanges in June 2026, according to data from Yonhap News Agency reported by Wu Blockchain. The five largest won-based exchanges sent 2.7625 trillion won abroad and received 2.2022 trillion won, producing a 560.3 billion won net outflow.
Monthly net outflows have ranged from 459.3 billion won in July 2025 to 1.2049 trillion won in February 2025. The cumulative total since January 2025 reached about 14.9 trillion won, based on the disclosed monthly figures.
The June outflow equaled 77.6% of the 722 billion won Korean retail investors spent on foreign shares net over the same period. During the second quarter, the gap widened. Stablecoins posted 1.6872 trillion won in net outbound transfers, while Korean investors became net sellers of overseas equities, reducing their foreign stock holdings by 1.6185 trillion won. The data show dollar-linked tokens have become a parallel channel for capital outflows alongside traditional foreign stock purchases.
Access to products drives the movement. Domestic exchanges focus mainly on spot trading. Offshore platforms offer perpetual futures, staking, decentralized finance, tokenized real-world assets, and leveraged products linked to Korean companies. Those products have included exposure tied to Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix, and Hyundai Motor, the report said.
A separate study by Tiger Research and Chainalysis reviewed 4.5 million wallets and estimated cumulative transfers of 687.6 trillion won since 2021. The study found that about 47 trillion won in crypto moved abroad or into personal wallets during the first half of 2026 alone. Overseas trading activity generated roughly 1.4 trillion won in fees, the researchers estimated.
One major destination is Hyperliquid, which offered Korean-linked perpetual contracts with leverage of up to 50 times. SK Hynix-linked trading on the platform reached about $4 billion after the contract launched in February, the study said.
Bank of Korea officials have warned that wider token use could complicate capital-flow management and foreign-exchange oversight. Governor Rhee Chang-yong previously said won-backed tokens might make conversion into dollar-linked assets easier instead of reducing demand for dollars. The Financial Services Commission said in January that central provisions of second-stage digital-asset legislation remained unfinished, including the ownership structure permitted for stablecoin issuers. Lawmaker Lee Jong-wook urged regulators to review oversight and investor safeguards as offshore transfers continue.
The 18-month pattern shows investors consistently using dollar-linked tokens to reach products unavailable on domestic exchanges. The consistency of the direction carries more weight than the monthly size alone.
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