South Korea's Crypto Exchange Activity Surges Amid Emergency Declaration

According to PANews, data from the office of South Korean Democratic Party (DPK) lawmaker Yoon Suk-yeol reveals a significant increase in user activity on virtual asset exchanges following the emergency state declaration by President Yoon Suk-yeol on December 3, 2024. The Financial Supervisory Service (FSC) reported that the number of concurrent online users on major exchanges surged to more than 11 times the usual figures. Typically, these exchanges see 50,000 to 100,000 concurrent users, but during the emergency, this number rose to between 500,000 and 1.1 million. The FSC has completed an investigation into the access failures experienced by crypto exchanges during the martial law period and has recommended measures to enhance their response capabilities. These include expanding system performance by adding more servers, altering system infrastructure, and redesigning processes. Additionally, the FSC advised improving the Business Continuity Plan (BCP) to ensure adequate system resilience. To address the surge in requests for Korean won deposits and withdrawals, the FSC emphasized the need to enhance hotline communication channels and consultation procedures with banks.