South Korea's stablecoin outflow streak hits 18 months

South Korea's five major won-based exchanges recorded 560.3 billion won, about $367 million, in net stablecoin outflows to overseas platforms in June 2026, extending an uninterrupted outflow streak to 18 months.

The data came from the Financial Supervisory Service and was reported by Yonhap News on Aug. 2, based on a submission to People Power Party lawmaker Lee Jong-wook.

Upbit, Bithumb, Coinone, Korbit and Gopax sent 2.7625 trillion won in stablecoins abroad during June and received 2.2022 trillion won from overseas exchanges.

The net outflow of 560.3 billion won rose from 477.1 billion won in May. It remained below January's 1.1429 trillion won. The streak of net outflows began in January 2025, the earliest month in the available data.

During the second quarter, net stablecoin outflows totaled 1.6872 trillion won. Over the same period, Korean retail investors recorded 1.6185 trillion won in net overseas stock sales, according to Korea Securities Depository figures cited by Yonhap.

In June alone, overseas stock purchases exceeded sales by $472.54 million, or about 722 billion won. Stablecoin net outflows equaled 77.6% of the net overseas stock purchases. The comparison does not confirm that the same investors were involved in both flows.

The report said the transferred stablecoins are "believed to be used mainly" for products unavailable on domestic exchanges. These include derivatives and staking products.

Some overseas platforms offer futures and leveraged products linked to cryptocurrencies and major Korean stocks including Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix. The FSS figures track transfers between exchanges, not individual wallet activity. The connection to specific products remains an estimate.

Domestic trading volume across the five exchanges fell 54.6% year over year in the first half of 2026, crypto.news reported. The decline provides context for the outflow, though the data does not establish it as the cause.

Lee called for faster safeguards, saying investors were "being left defenseless against high-risk derivatives on foreign exchanges." He urged the government to review its investor protection framework.

South Korea's Financial Services Commission discussed exchange internal controls and security standards at a March 4 Virtual Asset Committee meeting. The commission said it planned further consultations before legislation moved forward. In January, the FSC cautioned that major provisions covering stablecoin issuers and ownership structures had not been finalized. The regulator later told lawmakers it intended to prepare a consolidated Digital Asset Basic Act covering stablecoins, exchanges, disclosures and operational controls, crypto.news reported.

The next monthly data will show whether July extended the outflow streak to 19 months. Regulators may face pressure to distinguish ordinary cross-border transfers from flows connected to leveraged derivatives and other higher-risk services.

The June figures document movements between Korean and overseas exchanges. They do not identify individual users or destination platforms. Any policy response will depend on further regulatory reviews and progress on the Digital Asset Basic Act.