Tax Report Unveils Hundreds of South Korean Crypto Whales

A pod of whales swimming underwater. — Source: willyam/Adobe

Data from a new South Korean tax report has revealed details of hundreds of crypto whales with millions of USD worth of coins on overseas crypto exchanges.

New tax rules that came into force this year require crypto holders to declare their holdings on foreign crypto platforms.

Per the South Korean media outlet Economist, the data was requested by MP Yang Kyung-sook, a member of the National Assembly’s Planning and Finance Committee, and submitted by the National Tax Service (NTS).

The data was anonymized before being made public, but indicates that the NTS now has the identity of hundreds of high-value crypto holders.

Highlights from the data include the following:

619 Seoul residents declared a total of $6 billion worth of crypto holdings held overseas
325 people in Gyeonggi Province (the most affluent of the country’s regions) reported a total of $806 million worth of crypto holdings held overseas
In the southern city of Daegu, 45 people reported a combined total of $117 million
In the port city of Incheon, 55 people reported a combined total of $99 million

People in their 30s reported the highest amount of crypto holdings.

The average person in this age group declared holding over $15.7 million on overseas exchanges and wallets

*A map of South Korea.* (Source: TUBS [CC BY-SA 3.0, edited])

South Korean Crypto Whales Accumulating More Coins?

South Korean law requires individuals and corporations whose overseas assets exceed $370,000 to report details of their holdings to the NTS.

In the past, this only applied to cash, stocks, bonds, collective investment securities, and conventional derivatives.

But the new tax reporting system means that as of last year, crypto must also be included on declarations.

The NTS did not reveal details of the kind of coins South Koreans are holding overseas, nor the identity of the platforms where they hold their tokens.

*The headquarters of the South Korean National Tax Service.* (Source: Minseong Kim [CC BY-SA 4.0])

Yang stated:

“We expect virtual currency-related data to continue to accumulate. The NTS must actively encourage [individuals and companies] who hold virtual currency to report faithfully.”

The MP concluded:

“We must carefully prevent [crypto-powered] tax evasion.”

Earlier this month, financial regulators announced that the nation’s crypto market experienced a surge in the first half of the year, hitting a total market cap of $21.1 billion.