Wealthy South Koreans Embrace Crypto, Investing 42M KRW Each

Highlights:

• Research has revealed that 1 in 3 wealthy South Koreans own virtual assets.
• The studies showed that these rich South Koreans invested an average of 42 million KRW in crypto.
• Many wealthy crypto investors expressed the desire to continue investing in the asset class.

According to Chosun Ilbo, Hana Financial Research Institute has published South Korea’s 2025 wealth report. The April 16 publication is renowned for analyzing the financial behaviour of wealthy South Korean citizens. According to the report, one-third of rich South Koreans own significant virtual assets, accounting for portions of their wealth.

The research institute noted that it based its report on an online survey involving 3,010 people. 884 investors qualified as wealthy individuals with over 1 billion KRW ($704,205) in financial assets, and 1,545 were mass affluent people who owned assets worth between 100 million KRW ($70,416) and 1 billion KRW.

According to Chosun Ilbo, Hana Bank's latest 2025 Korea Wealth Report shows that one in three wealthy South Koreans (with over 1 billion KRW in assets) have invested in virtual assets, averaging 42 million KRW per person. “Young Rich” under 40 are especially active, with a 29%…

— Wu Blockchain (@WuBlockchain) April 17, 2025

Research Findings on South Koreans’ Investment Pattern

The studies conducted with the above data show that one-third of wealthy individuals admitted to owning virtual assets. These people invested an average of 42 million KRW ($29,574) in crypto, with 34% owning four or more virtual assets. Meanwhile, over 70% of this wealthy group invested over 10 million KRW ($7,048) in crypto.

About 50 to 60% of crypto investors plan to continue investing in the asset class this year. 30% are undecided, while 10% expressed reluctance to continue investing. Per the research, the leading reason for many investors’ sustained interest is profitability.

49% of South Koreans cited profitability as the main factor driving their investment decisions. “However, this proportion decreased compared to the past (59%). Instead, the influence of investment accessibility (21% to 37%) and growth potential such as a favourable environment (22% to 34%) increased,” the research explained.

Yoon Seon-young, a researcher, said that if the wealthy anticipate growth potential in crypto, it suggests that the field has matured. He backed his assertion with the claim that rich people only invest in areas that could guarantee significant returns.

South Korean young rich aged 49 and under have increased at twice the rate of older millionaires, with big bets on unconventional assets like coins and art. #Korean_young_millionaires #South_Korea_Wealth_Report_2025 #Hana_Financial_Research_Intitution https://t.co/eYBQ4Kq5KE

— The Korea Economic Daily (@kedglobal) April 17, 2025

South Korea’s Economy to Worsen this Year

The research findings also disclosed that rich South Koreans anticipate a worsening economy this year, prompting a shift from real estate to safer asset classes like deposits, gold, and bonds. Statistics showed that 40.4% opted for deposits, 32.2% chose gold, and 30% went with bonds.

Other investment options include stocks, which 29.2% supported and trusts chosen by 23.9%. Only 20.4% among the wealthy individuals said they would invest in real estate. Meanwhile, 63.8% predicted that the real estate market would worsen further.

Young Investors Prefer Crypto and Foreign Stocks

Investors aged 40 or younger plan to increase their investments in foreign stocks and virtual assets. These individuals, commonly referred to as the young rich, boast a stock ownership rate of about 78%, 1.2 times that of the old rich at 66.4%. Foreign Stocks made up 30% of their entire stick ownership, which was also higher than that of the old rich at 20%.

This year, the young rich plan to increase their foreign stock ownership to 40%. Meanwhile, their crypto ownership rate dropped to about 29%, which was still significantly higher than the old rich, which was 10%.

Research Fellow Hwang Seon-gyeong explained:

“The Young Rich lead investment trends, including virtual asset investment, and have a stronger tendency to use finance to increase their assets than the Old Rich.”