Dozens of coins trade below 1 won — but experts say price alone tells you little [Crypto360]

Dozens of coins listed on domestic digital asset exchanges are trading at less than 1 won apiece, but experts say investors should look beyond the unit price and examine total supply, market capitalization and liquidity before drawing conclusions.

According to industry sources, 39 coins listed on major domestic exchanges — including Upbit, Bithumb, Coinone and DigitalX — were trading below 1 won as of 4:10 p.m. Thursday.

Bithumb and Coinone each had the most sub-1-won coins, with 26 apiece. Upbit and DigitalX each had eight assets trading below that threshold.

The reasons coins have fallen below 1 won vary widely. Some were designed from the outset to carry a low unit price, while others suffered sharp declines after listing, experiencing extreme volatility along the way.

For some tokens, falling prices have been accompanied by a steep drop in trading volume. One coin listed on Coinone in November last year opened above 140 won on its first day but has been sliding ever since, trading below 1 won since July this year.

The coin was recently flagged as a cautionary trading item. Even as its daily trading volume shrank to around 30,000 won ($22), it still recorded price swings of around 40 percent in a single day.

Not all low-priced coins are illiquid or highly volatile, however. Some have attracted a following among retail investors precisely because of their low unit price, earning the nickname "yeoljeon stocks" — a term borrowed from the stock market for penny-like assets.

In the stock market, a low share price can trigger delisting conditions. The Korea Exchange has tightened its delisting criteria for so-called "penny stocks" trading below 1,000 won and for companies that fall short of minimum market capitalization thresholds, as part of efforts to remove underperforming firms more quickly.

The digital asset market operates differently, however, according to industry observers. Because most digital assets — including Bitcoin — can be traded in fractional units, the price of a single coin is not a reliable indicator of its underlying economic value.

Experts therefore say investors need to look at trading volume and market capitalization alongside the unit price, rather than relying on price alone.

"Even if a coin's unit price is 1 won, excessive supply or insufficient liquidity can send it surging on small buying pressure before causing heavy losses," said Yoon Seung-sik, head of research at Tiger Research. "The economic scale of a coin is determined by its market capitalization."