With the implementation of the Virtual Asset User Protection Law (Virtual Asset User Protection Law) for nearly a month, the number of virtual assets (coins) listed (supported for trading) on domestic virtual asset exchanges is rapidly decreasing.
According to news from the virtual asset industry on the 19th, since the implementation of the "Virtual Asset User Protection Law" (July 7), the number of virtual assets listed on four exchanges including Upbit, Bithumb, Coinone, and Gopax is 19 (including duplicates). This year, the total number of virtual assets listed on these exchanges is 4, an average of 11 per month, but it has been reduced by less than half.
Upbit, the industry leader, has a more conservative listing policy than other exchanges. Despite this, 47 virtual assets were listed in the first half of this year, exceeding the total number of listings last year (35). In particular, in June and July, Solana landed on the Tether market after the global stablecoin Tether.
However, after the implementation of the Virtual Assets Law, Pendle and Aisher were limited to listing in the Korean won and Bitcoin markets. Coinone, which listed the most virtual assets this year, saw its listings cut in half. Coinone listed an average of 7.8 coins per month, but this number dropped to 4 after the law came into effect. Compared with the listing of 6 coins in June and July, it was evaluated as being at the level of a "listing cliff."
Gopax has listed 28 virtual assets this year, but was unable to list any of them after the law came into effect. In the previous month, seven companies, including Fancy, Locus Chain, Unigen, and Camel, were listed. Bithumb also listed 7 coins this year, an average of 44 coins per month, but it dropped to 5.73 after the law was implemented.
Industry analysis is mixed. Blockchain evangelist Choi Hwa-in said, "The global virtual asset market cannot be said to be booming," and "it is difficult to say that the market has slowed down because of the law." According to data from the global currency market platform CoinMarketCap, the average daily trading volume of the global virtual asset market has been US$19 billion (about 780 trillion won) since the 104th of last month, down 885% from the first quarter (US$11.86 billion), which is a prosperous period. It is worth noting that as the trading volume decreases, the number of listings also decreases.
On the other hand, an exchange official said, "The number of projects supporting listings has also decreased. Amid tightening supervision by authorities, both exchanges and issuers are cautious about delisting risks." He added, "Transaction value is declining." And the U.S. presidential election "seems to be a combination of multiple factors, and there is an atmosphere of postponing the listing deadline." Another industry official said, "As financial authorities implement best practices for listings, the pace of listings has slowed down because there are many additional things to pay attention to, unlike previous listing procedures," he added, "It seems that there is no direct correlation, but the past Special Financial Transactions Act "Even with the implementation of the Information Reporting and Use Act, the pace of listings has slowed down," he explained.
Experts noted that "the law is in the process of being formulated," but "there are still many areas that need to be improved." Evangelist Choi Hwa-in said, "There have always been forces in the virtual asset market that try to adjust prices when the market performs poorly, but after the law is implemented, there have been situations that financial authorities can seriously investigate, and relevant precedents will soon emerge," he added, "We have built a safety net to protect us."
However, Wonder Frame representative Kim Dong-hwan said: "Due to the Kim Nam-guk incident and other reasons, the relevant bills were hastily drafted. There are provisions in the Capital Markets Act, but only the Virtual Assets Act. He pointed out that a representative example is market making, so small-scale virtual assets listed in South Korea "are short of liquidity."