East Asia’s crypto market splits as Korea bets on AI tokens and Hong Kong courts institutions
East Asia’s crypto market is no longer moving as one bloc. New regional data shows a fragmented landscape where South Korea is trading artificial intelligence-linked tokens at scale, Hong Kong is pulling in institutional capital, Japan’s retail users are quietly moving on-chain, and China’s stablecoin activity is expanding despite official restrictions. The region’s overall crypto […] The post…
East Asia's cryptocurrency market is no longer a unified entity, according to recent regional data. South Korea has become a hub for AI-linked tokens, while Hong Kong attracts institutional capital, Japan sees retail users moving onto the blockchain, and China's stablecoin activity expands despite restrictions. Overall, the region's crypto economy shrank slightly between July 2025 and June 2026, mirroring a global downturn.
However, this masked significant disparities between markets. South Korea remained the most significant crypto economy, followed by Japan, Hong Kong, China, and Taiwan.
Written by urgent.news from e27's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
