South Korean regulators say most virtual assets that lost trading support in the first half of the year were tokens listed on just one domestic exchange, underscoring the risks tied to thinly traded markets. In a joint survey, the Financial Intelligence Unit and the Financial Supervisory Service said 68 of 76 delisted or unsupported assets fell into that single-listed category, or about 89%.
The findings came in the “2026 First-Half Survey of Virtual Asset Service Providers,” released on October 2. The report points to a market where single-listed tokens make up a sizeable share of assets in circulation but a much smaller share of total holdings, while also showing steeper price declines and a rising number of trading suspensions and investor warnings.
Suspensions rose as new listings slowed
Across exchanges, including overlapping cases where the same asset was affected on more than one platform, trading support suspensions totaled 108 in the first half. That was up 64% from 66 in the second half of last year.
In won-denominated markets, suspensions climbed to 101 from 54 over the same comparison period. At the same time, new listings fell sharply, dropping 46% to 135 from 250. Regulators also said investor-caution designations increased to 139 from 95.
Single-listed tokens form a large slice of the market
At the end of June, 673 virtual assets were circulating in South Korea, according to the survey. Of those, 234 were single-listed tokens, meaning they were available on only one exchange, or about 35% of the total.
Despite that share, their domestic holdings were valued at roughly 600 billion won, about $434 million, which represented only around 1% of the total valuation of all virtual assets held domestically. Regulators said 93 of those 234 single-listed assets, or 40%, had domestic holdings worth less than 100 million won, about $72,000.
Regulators highlight liquidity and volatility concerns
The FIU and FSS warned that many single-listed tokens were small assets, a feature that can leave investors exposed to limited liquidity and sharper price moves. Their data showed larger swings for this group than for the market overall.
For the first half, the average decline from peak to trough among single-listed assets was 77%. That compared with a 69% average decline across all virtual assets covered by the survey.
Why trading support was withdrawn
The report broke down the main reasons behind trading support suspensions. Project risk was the largest category at 40%, covering concerns such as business sustainability and issues related to issuing foundations.
Market risk accounted for 25% of cases, followed by investor protection risk at 13%. Technical reasons and other factors each made up 11% of the total. The regulators’ latest survey provides a snapshot of how South Korea’s exchanges handled listings, warnings, and removals in the first half, with the data pointing to particular vulnerability among single-listed tokens.
Source: en.bloomingbit.io