South Korean crypto investors favor AI tokens over XRP

A report from Chainalysis on crypto adoption in East Asia reveals a shift in trading preferences among South Korean retail investors. As of June 2026, AI-focused cryptocurrencies—digital assets linked to artificial intelligence projects or infrastructure—surpassed payment tokens like XRP in terms of their share of the Won-denominated trading volume.

While XRP remains active in the market, the data indicates a rotation toward AI tokens. South Korean investors appear to rotate through this category more rapidly and intensely than in other measured markets. For comparison, the share of AI crypto trading in the Won market was 19.5 times higher than in the Japanese Yen market, where it accounted for only 0.91 percent.

During the reporting period from July 2025 to June 2026, Worldcoin was the largest AI token by volume at 7.41 billion USD, followed by SAHARA at 3.2 billion USD. These assets replaced previous leaders such as VIRTUAL and KAITO.