By Nam Hyun-woo
Nearly a third of Korean office workers say they have invested in virtual currencies, a survey showed Wednesday, providing a glimpse into the country’s digital token trading frenzy.
According to the survey by Saramin, an online employment platform, 31.3 percent of 941 office workers questioned said they have invested in virtual currencies such as bitcoin.
The average investment per person was 5.56 million won ($5,169). More than 44 percent said they risked less than 1 million won, followed by 18.3 percent who invested between 1 million won and 2 million won. Those who said they poured more than 10 million won into the currencies accounted for 12.9 percent.
Among the investors, 80.3 percent said they profited while 13.2 percent said there was neither profit nor loss.
Regarding the earnings rate, 21.1 percent said they had about a 10 percent return, while 19.4 percent said cryptocurrencies have delivered more than 100 percent. The average return for those who reported more than 100 percent profit was 425 percent.
When asked the reason for investing in digital tokens, 54.2 percent said “it seemed to be the fastest way to make money.” About 48 percent said it was “a way to invest with a small amount of money,” while others said “long-term growth is expected,” or “it seemed to be the only way to escape from reality.”
Survey respondents said they had picked up bad habits such as “constantly checking online virtual currency forums” and “losing concentration on work.”
Korea is one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency markets, with local currency accounts making up about 21 percent of global trading.
More than 2.5 million Koreans are estimated to own virtual currencies. There are more than 30 exchanges, including Bithumb, the world’s largest.