This report, written by Tiger Research, examines the Korean Web3 market in the first quarter of 2025, analyzing its evolution from liquidity export to a structured industrial ecosystem, and highlights key regulatory developments and global project initiatives.
Key Summary
From Liquidity Export to Industrial Ecosystem: In the first quarter of 2025, the Korean Web3 market reaches a turning point. This market, previously viewed as a global project "liquidity export", is transforming into a structured, self-sustaining industrial ecosystem.
Impact of Enterprise Account Regulation Relaxation: As part of the Financial Services Commission's roadmap, institutional entities are gradually being permitted to conduct cryptocurrency transactions through corporate accounts.
Ecosystem Building Led by Global Projects: Projects like Avalanche, TON, Ripple, and Solana are actively establishing long-term foundations in Korea. Their activities have transcended marketing and are dedicated to developer community building and hackathon hosting.
1. Korean Web3 Market in Q1 2025: Still Just a Liquidity Export?
Despite active retail participation and ample liquidity, the institutional infrastructure development of the Korean Web3 market remains limited. Regulatory efforts prioritize investor protection over ecosystem development, slowing broader industry growth.
Two major obstacles are: 1) restrictions on enterprise accounts and cryptocurrency exchange associations; 2) high entry barriers for obtaining Virtual Asset Service Provider (VASP) licenses. Enterprises cannot link corporate accounts to local exchanges, making it legally unfeasible to convert crypto assets obtained through operations into fiat currency via Korean financial institutions. While some companies turn to overseas entities as a temporary solution, this approach carries regulatory risks and cannot provide a sustainable long-term solution.
The high entry threshold for VASP registration also constrains market development. Although small-scale operations can technically operate without registration, large projects consistently face legal and regulatory uncertainties.
These institutional constraints, combined with investor activities far exceeding local ecosystem maturity, have led some projects to primarily view Korea as an customer acquisition channel. In this context, the external narrative of the Korean market as a simple "liquidity export" becomes difficult to refute.
Market developments in Q1 2025 indicate Korea's potential to transition from a speculation-driven market to an industry revitalization-oriented market. Recent regulatory improvements (such as allowing enterprise accounts for cryptocurrency transactions) signify substantial progress towards structural change. Beneath the surface, global projects are steadily building local ecosystems supported by expanding builder communities and emerging initiatives.
The Korean Web3 market is at a critical inflection point. As the ecosystem gradually matures beyond an investor-driven development model, supported by institutional readiness and sustained investment interest, greater long-term value is expected to emerge.
2. Institutional Progress: Allowing Enterprise Accounts for Cryptocurrency Transactions
In Korea, restrictions on legal entity cryptocurrency transactions began with the 2017 "Park Sang-ki Ban". Led by then-Minister of Justice Park Sang-ki, this policy effectively prohibited financial institutions and enterprises from participating in cryptocurrency transactions. Although the guidelines have become invalid, the practice continues, creating a dual-track system where individuals can trade within the regulatory framework while corporate investment and financing activities remain limited.
Source: Tiger Research
To address these restrictions, the Financial Services Commission (FSC) officially announced the "Enterprise Participation in Cryptocurrency Market Roadmap" on February 13, 2025. The roadmap's core highlight is a phased lifting of the seven-year enterprise cryptocurrency transaction restrictions.
Phase 1 (starting Q2 2025): Opening accounts for law enforcement agencies, non-profit organizations, and cryptocurrency exchanges, limited to asset liquidation purposes
Phase 2 (starting second half of 2025): Allowing listed companies and registered investment companies to trade
Phase 3 (medium to long-term): Fully opening the market to ordinary enterprises
In terms of investment behavior, corporate capital may concentrate on Bitcoin. As demonstrated by US Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy) and Japan's Metaplanet, institutional investors tend to allocate to large-cap stable assets due to conservative risk management. This could lead to massive fund inflows into Bitcoin, potentially impacting the Altcoin market—where Korean retail investors have traditionally been highly active. Therefore, the Altcoin market may face reduced interest and liquidity in the medium to short term.
3. Industry Transformation: Strategic Layout of Global Web3 Projects
Following the US and China, South Korea has become a core strategic market for global Web3 projects. In response, numerous international teams are actively recruiting Korean talent and establishing substantive collaborations, demonstrating a strategic shift from surface-level marketing to building sustainable, builder-driven local ecosystems. This long-term layout not only supports individual project growth but also enhances the overall competitiveness of South Korea's Web3 industry.
3.1 Project Support: Guiding Industry Direction by Supporting Mature Teams
Source: Avalanche Korea X
Avalanche and TON Foundation are global project exemplars supporting local Korean teams in ecosystem building. After successfully collaborating with 'MapleStory', Avalanche has expanded partnerships with Korean small and medium-sized projects. The team hosts demonstration days quarterly to showcase available products and actively attract users, forming a feedback loop that provides substantial value to projects and participants.
TON Foundation adopts a more structured approach by launching the "TON Society Korea Builder" program. This program includes an official project database, systematic support architecture, and expanded network access to strengthen the local TON ecosystem in a scalable manner.
These ecosystem support strategies have produced actual outcomes beyond short-term exposure or engagement metrics. Verified local developers gain a more stable growth foundation, and their success stories provide clear guidance for new entrants. Simultaneously, these initiatives lay the groundwork for international expansion of Korean projects.
3.2 Hackathons: Cultivating Korean Builders and Strengthening Market Potential
Hackathons hosted by XRPL Korea (Ripple) and Superteam Korea (Solana) have transcended single events to become a critical turning point in the Korean Web3 ecosystem. In March, Ripple held a two-day "DE-BUTHON 2025", attracting 24 teams with 203 participants. Superteam Korea collaborated with 22 global partners to host the "SEOULANA HACKATHON", with over 300 participants.
The scale and success of these events help reverse the perception of Korea as a speculation-driven market. The high participation in large hackathons reflects the existence of a robust builder ecosystem. These events have now become strategic launch platforms—providing builders with clear market entry paths and bridging the gap between prototype development and actual deployment.
By the first quarter of 2025, driven by ecosystem-building initiatives with global networks (rather than mere capital inflows), the Korean Web3 industry began showing quantifiable progress. Enhanced collaboration with mature participants, coupled with developer support programs, is nurturing a new generation of local builders.
These developments mark a new phase of momentum in the Korean Web3 field. On this basis, Korean projects are poised to export substantive innovations to the global stage in the coming years.
4. From Investment-Driven to Industry-Driven: Turning Point of the Korean Web3 Market
In the first quarter of 2025, the Korean Web3 market underwent a critical transformation—from an investment-driven environment to a mature industry ecosystem. Regulatory progress, including phased opening of corporate crypto trading accounts, laid the foundation for structured market participation. Simultaneously, ongoing ecosystem-building efforts by global Web3 projects help Korean markets achieve long-term growth positioning.
Another significant milestone was the successful first retail user real-world transaction of the Korean Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) "Hangang Project". Concurrently, major Korean commercial banks began jointly exploring Korean won stablecoin issuance in early April. The Korean Bank also indicated a more proactive role in future regulatory legislation.
In infrastructure, ongoing discussions about a "one-exchange, multiple-bank" system signal potential structural breakthroughs. Under this model, crypto exchanges would no longer be limited to a single banking partner but could interface with multiple commercial banks. This is expected to significantly enhance market flexibility and user access.
Comprehensively, these developments clearly demonstrate the Korean Web3 sector's evolution towards a sustainable industry ecosystem. After years of regulatory constraints and structural inefficiencies, Korea is entering a new phase where policy synergy, institutional participation, and industry-level growth are emerging.
