Original author: Tiger Research
Original translation: AididiaoJP, Foresight News
summary
In the first half of 2025, the activities of Korean cryptocurrency users expanded from centralized exchanges to on-chain ecosystems. This shift marks the maturity of the market and the diversification of user participation methods.
South Korean users hold a relatively large amount of Ethereum assets and maintain a stable participation in the mainnet. Base users gradually increase user participation through decentralized applications (dApps). Solana attracts the most users and has high user activity. However, Solana has a high churn rate due to fatigue caused by short-term events (such as the memecoin and meme launch platform melee).
Korean cryptocurrency users exhibit different behavioral characteristics on different blockchains, which cannot be summarized by a single trait. Project owners need to develop effective market strategies through systematic user segmentation and conduct analysis in a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods.
1. Overview of Korean on-chain user activities in the first half of 2025
South Korean users have begun to gradually expand from exchanges such as Upbit and Bithumb to active on-chain, which is a sign of the markets gradual maturity rather than a temporary phenomenon.
The trading volume of centralized exchanges in South Korea has always been very high, but in fact, on-chain activities are also growing rapidly. The Korean crypto market has also developed a multi-layered market structure and is no longer an exchange-centric market. Recognizing this will help further formulate market strategies.
This market shift was further confirmed at the IXO 2025 event held on January 24-25, 2025. The event was co-hosted by TokenPost and CoinReaders, and TokenPost CEO Kim Ji-ho said at the opening ceremony that South Korea’s digital asset investors have exceeded 10 million, and the cryptocurrency market has transcended the niche technology community and established connections with mainstream audiences.
International participants are trying to gain a deeper understanding of the participation of Korean on-chain users and no longer view Korea as an exchange-centric market structure. However, analyzing Korean user characteristics remains challenging, and systematically obtaining relevant on-chain data remains a huge challenge.
This report collects on-chain activity data from approximately 80,000 wallets. This article is for readers who need a deeper understanding of the Korean market. The research covers data from the first half of 2025 and examines the behavior patterns of Korean users in the three ecosystems of Ethereum, Base, and Solana, providing practical insights for global projects considering entering the Korean market.
2. Korean User Characteristics: Ethereum, Base, and Solana
2.1. Event Time
Ethereum, Base: Event time (9am to 11pm)
Solana: Early Morning Hours (Midnight to 8 AM)
There are significant differences in the participation patterns of Korean users on different blockchains, and the activity time is significantly different. The active user transactions of Ethereum and Base are concentrated in the daily activity time from 9 am to 11 pm.
Solana’s trading is concentrated in the early morning hours between midnight and 8am, with users remaining active late at night, in stark contrast to other chains. This is because Solana has formed a trading-centric ecosystem, with major token issuance and activity aligned with the North American time zone. Even in the early morning hours, when the market is active, Korean users actively participate.
This shows that Korean users are highly adaptable to the global market, their active investment tendency transcends time zone adjustments, and users are unwilling to miss global opportunities. The behavior of Korean users transcends geographical restrictions and keeps pace with the global crypto market.
2.2. Fund distribution
The distribution of funds on different blockchains varies significantly. According to the collected wallet data, the total assets held by Korean users on Ethereum are about $400 million, which is about 9 times the total assets on Base and Solana chains. This difference is mainly due to the assets of whale wallets, not the number of wallets. Whales (more than $1 million) and middle-class accounts (more than $100,000) account for a large proportion. There are 116 whale wallets on Ethereum, each holding an average of $2.5 million.
Solana on-chain assets present a different pattern. Retail wallets (less than $100) account for 99.9% of all wallets, with an average holding of only $30. However, a small number of whale wallets hold an average of more than $8 million, forming the most extreme polarization of fund distribution.
These data show that Korean users have different investment tendencies on different chains. Ethereum attracts conservative large investors who focus on stability, while Solana attracts a large number of retail investors who seek high returns. These retail investors prefer short-term opportunities such as meme coins and meme-launched platform coins. Base attracts medium-level investors in between. This shows that the Korean market has a diverse user base, rather than focusing on a specific investment tendency.
2.3. User activity trends
Ethereums transaction volume is not affected by market fluctuations or external events and remains stable in the long term. Korean users pay more attention to practical activities in the Ethereum ecosystem. They are more involved in actual dApp usage, asset custody, and governance activities rather than DeFi-centric trading activities.
Unlike Ethereum, trading on Base and Solana is sensitive to overall cryptocurrency market sentiment and short-term events. Trading volumes surged when cryptocurrency prices rose at the beginning of the year, then fell briefly before rising again in May when Bitcoin broke through $100,000.
The transaction trends of Base and Solana chains are similar, but there are differences in the number of daily active users. Solana has a high user churn rate due to the memecoin launch platform and short-term event structure. Although Base has fewer loyal users, the number of active users has steadily increased, thanks to the adoption of diverse dApps and consumer services.
2.4. dApp usage
Korean users’ usage of dApps on different chains further reveals their differences.
Solana on-chain activity is centered around transactions. Korean users are mainly focused on DeFi transactions, with low usage of stablecoins and dominant SOL trading pairs.
On Ethereum and Base, users are more active in remittance and deposit activities, using USDT or USDC for operations. There are diverse real-world use cases on these chains. Kaito InfoFi service on Base is one of the main drivers of user attraction, and the application is currently ranked third on Base. Korean users respond positively to the reward structure and prefer to provide returns through token staking and incentive claims.
3. Conclusion
This report analyzes the on-chain activity of approximately 80,000 South Korean cryptocurrency users. This analysis can help develop more effective market entry strategies.
The most important thing is that Korean users cannot be viewed as a homogenous group. Compared with other markets, Korean users are more deeply involved in the cryptocurrency market. The characteristics of Korean users are mainly reflected in the following three aspects:
First, Korean users have shown strong adaptability to the global market. The early morning activities on Solana show that their participation spans time zones. Users are unwilling to miss opportunities in the global crypto market, and their behavior is not restricted by region, keeping pace with the global cryptocurrency ecosystem.
Secondly, there is a clear differentiation in strategies and investment tendencies on different chains. The same group of Korean users are conservative investors on Ethereum, focusing on stability; on Solana, they become speculative investors seeking high returns; and on Base, they show a moderate tendency. This strategic differentiation forms a hierarchy based on investment purposes and risk preferences. Users optimize their participation strategies according to the characteristics and culture of each ecosystem, which also shows that Korean users are a complex group.
Third, users show a high level of interest in incentive-based services. They actively participate in these services, as exemplified by the rapid rise of Kaito on Base. Korean users actively participate in yield activities through token staking and reward systems. On-chain data confirms this trend, with Kaito listing Korean users separately on the leaderboard and some projects expanding reward pools specifically for Korean users, which validates this observation.
Global projects considering entering the Korean market need to develop customized strategies that match user characteristics. Korea is a balanced market with no bias towards a specific stage or type.
Strategy development should prioritize blockchains that are suitable for target user segments. Korean users’ expectations and behaviors on different chains vary significantly.
On an operational level, providing services based on the North American time zone does not cause major issues, and the global operating system can be incorporated into long-term expansion plans.
User acquisition and retention require clear and sustainable incentive structures. Korean users are highly sensitive to token staking and reward systems, respond more positively to long-term participation structures, and are less effective in short-term activities.
Most importantly, these users should be viewed as partners in the development of the ecosystem rather than simply users. This report aims to provide practical assistance in the development of relevant strategies.
