The Korea Blockchain Industry Association estimates that South Korea has more than a dozen cryptocurrency exchanges.
And there's so much demand that the virtual currency has traded at as much as a 30% premium compared with other countries.
Taken together, you get a decent feel for how big this industry has become in a country of fewer than 50 million people.
Amid tales of schoolchildren and housewives rushing in to buy virtual currency, South Korea's government has branded the trend "irrational".