Number of cryptocurrency app users drops in Korea

The number of cryptocurrency-related app users has continued to go down in the past two weeks, shortly after it topped 2 million.

Wiseapp, which tracks mobile apps, said Tuesday that it had analyzed approximately 23,000 Android smartphone users in Korea over a span of 14 weeks, from Oct. 30, 2017 through Feb. 4.

The number of people using smartphone apps which show cryptocurrency exchange rates and market analysis have surged more than 14-fold from 140,000 in the first week of November to 2 million in the third week of January.

However, users have begun to quit the apps, coinciding with the government’s push for introducing a real-name trading system. The number of users declined to 1.93 million in the fourth week of January and further dropped to 1.86 million in the first week of February.

The Korean government launched the real-name trade system of cryptocurrencies on Jan. 30 as part of an effort to restrain speculative investment into virtual coins. 

By Cho Yun-myung (yunc39@heraldcorp.com)