According to The Korea Times, although South Korea was once called the "Liquidity Gold Country" of the crypto market, the latest data shows that the retail-led crypto boom in the country is cooling significantly. TRM Labs data indicates that retail crypto trading volume in South Korea in the first quarter of this year was $69 billion, ranking second globally, but this figure has decreased by 28% year-over-year, making it the region with the steepest decline among major markets worldwide (the global average decline is 20%). Analysis points out that the primary reason for the sharp drop in trading volume is the strong inflow of funds into the domestic stock market. Driven by the AI boom, South Korea’s composite stock price index (KOSPI) soared approximately 196% over the past year, and the high returns and daily volatility diverted retail speculative capital that originally sought high risk and momentum returns. Additionally, Dispatch analyst Dessislava Ianeva noted that the implementation of the "Virtual Asset User Protection Act" in South Korea has significantly raised compliance thresholds for domestic exchanges, and currently only spot trading is permitted domestically, lacking the rich products such as derivatives, leverage, and pre-market trading available on overseas platforms.