Key Takeaways
- • AI-linked cryptocurrencies have displaced payment tokens including XRP as South Korea's most traded thematic crypto category as of June 2026, according to a Chainalysis report covering July 2025–June 2026 activity.
- • Worldcoin (WLD) leads AI crypto trading in South Korea with $7.41 billion in won-denominated volume, followed by SAHARA ($3.2 billion), VIRTUAL ($2.7 billion), BIO ($2 billion), and NEAR ($1.7 billion).
- • South Korean retail traders are rotating through AI tokens with greater speed and intensity than traders in other major markets, signaling a structural shift in thematic preference away from payment-focused assets.
- • The category leadership has shifted within a single year; VIRTUAL and KAITO were among the top AI tokens in 2025 before being surpassed by Worldcoin and SAHARA by mid-2026.
Summary
South Korean crypto investors have pivoted decisively toward artificial intelligence-themed digital assets, with AI cryptocurrencies emerging as the single most popular thematically-defined investment category in the country by June 2026. The shift marks a fundamental reordering of retail trading preferences in one of Asia's largest crypto markets, displacing payment-focused tokens such as XRP that had historically dominated Korean trading volumes.
The transition is documented in a Chainalysis report analyzing East Asian crypto activity between July 2025 and June 2026, which measures thematic categories by their share of trading volume denominated in Korean won. Chainalysis defines AI cryptocurrencies as digital assets linked to AI-focused projects or AI infrastructure. The category's prominence in South Korea is notably stronger than AI crypto markets tracked in other major currency zones, indicating the country's traders are more heavily concentrated in this thematic area than international peers.
Worldcoin (WLD) has established clear leadership within the AI crypto category, recording $7.41 billion in won-denominated trading volume during the measurement period. The next four most-traded AI tokens were SAHARA at $3.2 billion, VIRTUAL at $2.7 billion, BIO at $2 billion, and NEAR at $1.7 billion. Notably, the hierarchy within AI tokens shifted rapidly; VIRTUAL and KAITO held leading positions in 2025 before Worldcoin and SAHARA took over by mid-2026. The Chainalysis report specifically notes that Korean retail traders are rotating through the AI crypto category with greater speed and intensity than traders in other markets covered by the analysis, suggesting either higher conviction in the thematic narrative or more volatile sentiment shifts compared with international markets.
The transition is documented in a Chainalysis report analyzing East Asian crypto activity between July 2025 and June 2026, which measures thematic categories by their share of trading volume denominated in Korean won. Chainalysis defines AI cryptocurrencies as digital assets linked to AI-focused projects or AI infrastructure. The category's prominence in South Korea is notably stronger than AI crypto markets tracked in other major currency zones, indicating the country's traders are more heavily concentrated in this thematic area than international peers.
Worldcoin (WLD) has established clear leadership within the AI crypto category, recording $7.41 billion in won-denominated trading volume during the measurement period. The next four most-traded AI tokens were SAHARA at $3.2 billion, VIRTUAL at $2.7 billion, BIO at $2 billion, and NEAR at $1.7 billion. Notably, the hierarchy within AI tokens shifted rapidly; VIRTUAL and KAITO held leading positions in 2025 before Worldcoin and SAHARA took over by mid-2026. The Chainalysis report specifically notes that Korean retail traders are rotating through the AI crypto category with greater speed and intensity than traders in other markets covered by the analysis, suggesting either higher conviction in the thematic narrative or more volatile sentiment shifts compared with international markets.
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