China’s P2P Stablecoin Wallets Surge 43x as South Korea Leads East Asia’s Crypto Economy

The number of unique wallets sending peer to peer stablecoin transactions in China grew 43-fold between the first quarter of 2024 and the second quarter of 2026, according to Chainalysis. The firm recorded $104.1 billion across 18.1 million transfers from self custodied holdings between July 2025 and June 2026. Stablecoins turned over 33.2 times a year, more than triple the global average of 9.3, a sign users treat them as working capital. China’s crypto economy is estimated at no less than $176 billion, with domestic P2P activity making up 59.1% of it, 3.5 times its share a year earlier.

South Korea Crypto Economy Hits $449 Billion

Chainalysis ranked South Korea as East Asia’s largest crypto economy at $449.1 billion, with activity up 12.3% in the year to June 2026 and retail traders favouring AI-linked tokens. Still, exchange operating profits fell 78% in the first half of 2026. Korea’s financial intelligence unit said average daily trading volume dropped 44%, market capitalization fell 33% and won deposits slid 35%. Exchange sales declined 41%, while eligible trading accounts edged up 0.4%.

Securitize and LG CNS Tokenization Partnership

Shares of Securitize jumped 8% on Tuesday after it signed a memorandum of understanding with South Korean tech firm LG CNS to build tokenized assets and digital infrastructure for local financial institutions. The deal comes as the Financial Services Commission proposes rules for issuing and trading tokenized stocks, bonds and funds, with the framework due in February 2027.