38 coins delisted within a year of listing

Calls grow for stronger investor protections

South Korea's five major won-denominated cryptocurrency exchanges — Upbit, Bithumb, Coinone, Korbit and Gopax. [Provided by each company]
South Korea's five major won-denominated cryptocurrency exchanges — Upbit, Bithumb, Coinone, Korbit and Gopax. [Provided by each company]

South Korea's digital asset exchanges sharply expanded their altcoin listings over the past four-plus years, but hundreds of those coins were subsequently delisted, data released Monday show. The figures have fueled debate over whether exchanges applied sufficiently rigorous listing standards and whether investor protections were adequate, particularly given that dozens of coins were removed from trading within a year of being listed.

According to data submitted to People Power Party lawmaker Park Sung-hoon of the National Assembly's Political Affairs Committee by the country's five major won-denominated exchanges — Upbit, Bithumb, Coinone, Korbit and Gopax — a combined total of 1,236 altcoins (counting duplicates across exchanges) were newly listed from 2022 through the end of July this year, with Bithumb's figures extended through Aug. 18.

Over the same period, 430 altcoins went through delisting procedures. Direct comparisons are complicated by the fact that some of the delisted coins had been listed before 2022, but the figure still amounts to roughly one-third of the newly listed total — a ratio that critics say warrants closer scrutiny of how exchanges evaluate coins before listing them.

By exchange, Bithumb recorded the most new listings since 2022 at 426, followed by Coinone with 337, Upbit with 219, Korbit with 148 and Gopax with 106.

For delistings over the same period, Coinone led with 157, followed by Bithumb with 134, Gopax with 67, Upbit with 42 and Korbit with 30. Measured as a share of each exchange's own listings, Gopax had the highest delisting rate at 63.2 percent, followed by Coinone at 46.6 percent, Bithumb at 31.5 percent, Korbit at 20.3 percent and Upbit at 19.2 percent.

Particularly striking, 38 altcoins were delisted within a year of being listed. Bithumb accounted for the most at 16, followed by Coinone with 11, Gopax with 5, Korbit with 4 and Upbit with 2.

Of the 42 coins Upbit delisted, 28 were removed over concerns about potential harm to users. Eight were delisted due to technical or security issues, while regulatory violations, doubts about the credibility of the issuing entity, and other reasons each accounted for two delistings.

The pace of listings and delistings in the digital asset market is high even by stock market standards. Over the same period, 532 companies were newly listed on the Kosdaq, while 76 were delisted for reasons including failing to receive a clean audit opinion. Observers say the comparison — even against Kosdaq's notoriously volatile penny stocks — highlights how weak the altcoin management environment is, and strengthens the case for holding exchanges more accountable for the coins they choose to list.

"We can no longer stand by while exchanges profit and investors are left holding the losses from this game of hot potato with coin listings," Park said, calling on financial regulators to strengthen investor protections.


kyoung@heraldcorp.com