A petition to scrap a 22% tax on crypto investment gains in South Korea has reached the 50,000-signature threshold, forcing the country's Finance and Economic Planning Committee to review the new tax regime.
The petition argues the 22% tax imposes financial and reporting burdens on investors, particularly younger individuals who are already locked out of housing markets due to skyrocketing real estate prices. It also claims taxing crypto gains at 22% while giving other asset classes preferential treatment undermines South Korea's share of the crypto market.
South Korea is a key crypto hub in the Asia-Pacific region. In March 2025, about 32% of the country's population owned cryptocurrencies, but that number has declined this year as crypto prices remain under pressure.
The total value of crypto held by South Koreans fell from about 121.8 trillion won ($83.3 billion) in January 2025 to 60.6 trillion won ($41.4 billion) in February 2026. Daily trading volumes on the five largest Korean exchanges - Upbit, Bithumb, Coinone, Korbit and Gopax - also dropped from $11.6 billion in December 2024 to $3 billion in February.
Tighter Anti-Money Laundering and Know Your Customer regulations in South Korea are also driving investors away from the sector. In March, the Financial Services Commission and Financial Intelligence Unit proposed automatically flagging any crypto transaction above 10 million won ($6,630) sent to or from foreign wallets as suspicious.