South Korea posted 560.3 billion won, or about $367 million, in net stablecoin outflows to overseas crypto exchanges in June, according to Financial Supervisory Service data obtained by Yonhap News Agency. The June figure marked the 18th consecutive month in which more stablecoins left the country’s trading platforms than returned.
The data covers the country’s five largest crypto exchanges and points to continued demand for offshore products that are restricted or not available on domestic venues. The latest figures have also prompted renewed calls for tighter oversight of cross-border crypto activity.
Large transfers through major domestic exchanges
Yonhap reported that the figures were drawn from Financial Supervisory Service data obtained through People Power Party lawmaker Lee Jong-wook. The data covers Upbit, Bithumb, Coinone, Korbit and Gopax, the five major exchanges in South Korea.
In June alone, those platforms sent 2.7 trillion won, or about $1.81 billion, in stablecoins to overseas exchanges. Over the same period, they received 2.2 trillion won, or around $1.44 billion, from foreign platforms, leaving a net outflow of 560.3 billion won.
Why traders are moving funds abroad
Market participants cited by Yonhap said the transfers were tied to demand for products that domestic exchanges do not offer, or offer only in limited form. They pointed in particular to overseas derivatives markets, tokenized real-world assets, decentralized finance services and staking products.
That explanation suggests the outflows are being driven less by simple arbitrage and more by access to parts of the crypto market that remain outside the menu of products available on local trading venues.
Eighteen months of net outflows
June extended South Korea’s run of monthly net stablecoin outflows to 18 straight months. The streak indicates that the movement of funds to offshore venues has become persistent rather than episodic.
While the source data does not assign a single cause to the full period, the repeated monthly imbalance adds weight to concerns that domestic market structure and product limits may be pushing a steady share of activity beyond South Korea’s exchanges.
Regulatory pressure may increase
Lee Jong-wook said the government should re-examine how it protects investors and supervises cross-border crypto activity as the outflows continue. He called for a broad review of investor protection and supervisory frameworks and urged quicker regulatory improvements.
The immediate confirmed development is the publication of the June outflow data through Yonhap. Whether the figures lead to new oversight measures remains unclear, but the numbers are likely to add pressure on authorities to review how offshore crypto transfers are monitored.
Source: cointelegraph.com