[비즈한국] The first instance of a virtual asset exchange selling its held virtual assets has emerged since the practice was permitted last June. On August 5, the KRW-based exchange Coinone announced the sale of four types of virtual assets worth 4.1 billion KRW. As Coinone works to expand its business through the introduction of professional management and aggressive new listings, following a successful improvement in performance last year, the industry’s first move toward cashing out virtual assets has drawn significant market attention.
In its "Virtual Asset Service Provider Virtual Asset Sale Plan" disclosed on the 5th, Coinone announced it would sell 10 Bitcoin (BTC), 300 Ethereum (ETH), 200,000 Ripple (XRP), and 40,000 Cardano (ADA). The value of these four assets, assessed as of July 31, is 4,101,196,000 KRW. The asset sale will be conducted through the Upbit and Korbit exchanges from August 8 to 31, in accordance with the condition that sales must be distributed across at least two KRW-based exchanges, excluding the company itself.
This sale has garnered attention as the first case to occur two months after the implementation of the system. According to the virtual asset sale guidelines, the purpose of such sales is limited to three categories: payment of taxes such as corporate tax, covering operating expenses such as payroll, and cases where there is a clear concern regarding the default on other legal obligations. Specifically, in the case of debt default, it is only permitted if the exchange has more debt than cash, meaning it is experiencing a severe liquidity shortage. Sales for new businesses or investments are prohibited.
Virtual asset exchanges have previously disposed of their own virtual assets to cover blockchain network fees or event rewards. Based on the 2024 audit report, the assets held by Coinone include 211 Bitcoin, 749 Ethereum, and 4,952,857 Tether (USDT). Their respective values were estimated at 30 billion KRW, 3.8 billion KRW, and 7.4 billion KRW. Other virtual assets held were valued at 7.3 billion KRW.
Coinone specified "covering operating expenses such as payroll" as the purpose for this sale. A Coinone official stated, "We posted it as the most appropriate item among the three permitted sale purposes," implying that it is not due to liquidity issues like cash shortages.
Where the proceeds will be used is also a point of interest. Selling operators are obligated to make both pre-sale and post-sale disclosures. Upon completing the sale, they must post the results within five business days of the completion date or the end of the scheduled period, and disclose the usage details of the cashed-out funds within one week of the completion of their use.
Coinone faced difficulties as the virtual asset market froze between 2022 and 2023, but it improved its performance last year. Revenue increased by 96.4% from 22.5 billion KRW in 2023 to 44.2 billion KRW in 2024. During the same period, net profit turned around from a 6.7 billion KRW loss to a 15.6 billion KRW profit. On the other hand, while operating profit remained in the red, moving from a 23.5 billion KRW loss to a 6.1 billion KRW loss, the scale of the deficit was reduced.
Cash flow has also improved. Coinone's cash and cash equivalents increased from 13.6 billion KRW in 2023 to 254.6 billion KRW in 2024. Operating cash flow, the cash generated by business activities, successfully transitioned from a 23.7 billion KRW deficit in 2023 to a 111.7 billion KRW surplus in 2024.
While Coinone specified operating expenses as the only use for the proceeds, it remains to be seen whether the funds will be injected into business expansion. Coinone is the third-largest operator in the domestic market, with a market share of around 2% based on trading volume. The domestic virtual asset market is structured such that the top operator, Upbit, and the second-largest, Bithumb, hold a combined share of over 97%. The remaining market is split among Coinone, Korbit, and Gopax, in that order. Of these, Korbit and Gopax each hold less than 1% of the market share.
With a large gap between it and the second-place player, Coinone is striving to increase its market share. It is particularly aggressive in securing new virtual assets. According to virtual asset evaluation firm Appywa, Coinone provided the most new trading support among the five major KRW exchanges in the second quarter (42 assets). It was followed by Bithumb (33), Upbit (18), Gopax (5), and Korbit (3). Coinone also listed 21 new virtual assets in July. Among them, 9 were assets that were supported in Korea for the first time.
It has been confirmed that Coinone has already listed 8 new virtual assets this month (as of August 13). However, there are concerns about the side effects of mass listings. Of the 5 assets with the highest price drops on the day of trading support in the second quarter, 3 were assets listed on Coinone. Compared to the starting price on the listing day, Humanity Protocol (H) fell 68.4%, Babylon (BABY) 64.2%, and Huma Finance (HUMA) 55.4%.
It has also listed "cautionary" items quickly. The CROSS coin, which began trading on August 1, is a virtual asset issued by Jang Hyun-guk, former CEO of Wemade112040 who spearheaded the issuance of Wemix coin, after he moved to NexXth. Wemix became a controversy due to repeated listings and delistings on domestic exchanges. Coinone became the second KRW-based exchange to list CROSS, following Korbit.
Last February, the company transitioned to a co-CEO system, appointing a professional manager to strengthen competitiveness. Lee Sung-hyun, the former Chief Operating Officer (COO), was appointed as the new CEO. CEO Lee is a fintech expert who has worked at Citibank, Bain & Company, Dunamu, and Yanolja. Under this structure, founder CEO Cha Myung-hoon handles PR, government relations, and service enhancement, while CEO Lee Sung-hyun, as a professional manager, oversees the entire organization, including operations, development, products, HR, finance, and risk management.
Meanwhile, some investors expressed concerns about exchange-held volume following the sale disclosure. However, the impact is expected to be minimal due to strict sales criteria. The maximum daily volume allowed for sale is 10% or less of the total volume planned for sale, and for each exchange, it is limited to 5% or less of the average daily trading volume over the previous month. The sell order price is around 1% of the market price within the exchange. Coinone stated, "We are proceeding with the asset sale sequentially according to the disclosed schedule (August 8–31)."