Upbit continues to lead South Korea’s cryptocurrency exchange market, recording approximately $1.04 billion in spot trading volume over a 24-hour period as traders return to the crypto market. Its turnover exceeded the combined volume of its three closest domestic competitors.
Upbit leads South Korea’s crypto exchange market
Upbit, operated by Dunamu, processed about $1.04 billion in spot trades within 24 hours, surpassing the combined volume of Bithumb, Coinone and Korbit, now known as Digital X.
Bithumb recorded approximately $632.6 million in volume, while Coinone reached about $67.9 million. Korbit, operating as Digital X, registered close to $11 million.
The increase followed Bitcoin’s rise above $80,000 in late August, marking its first move past that level since mid-May. The rally encouraged South Korean retail traders to return to local crypto exchanges and put money back into domestic order books.
Founded in October 2017, Upbit holds South Korea’s first virtual asset service provider license and lists more than 180 tokens. Bithumb, which launched in 2014, lists over 440 assets.
Before the August 20 rally, Upbit’s daily turnover generally ranged between 300 billion and 600 billion won. By Saturday afternoon, however, volume had briefly climbed to 4.61 trillion won—nearly ten times the level recorded a week earlier. Bithumb also exceeded 2 trillion won during the same period.
Cryptopolitan separately reported that Upbit’s daily volume rose 273% to approximately $1.84 billion, its busiest session since mid-March. XRP was the most actively traded token on both Upbit and Bithumb.
South Korean crypto exchanges face weaker revenue
Presto Research analyst Min Jung described Korean traders as “return-chasers” who buy assets that are already rising.
During the first half of 2026, South Korea’s four largest crypto exchanges collectively lost nearly 500 billion won, or $364 million. Falling cryptocurrency prices reduced the value of assets held by the exchanges, while weak trading activity resulted in lower fee revenue.
Trading fees are the exchanges’ main source of income. They accounted for 96.91% of Dunamu’s first-half revenue, which fell by half compared with the previous year.
Dunamu’s operating profit dropped 79.7% year on year during the first half, while Bithumb’s operating profit declined even further, falling 83.4%.
Cryptopolitan reported that first-half trading volume across South Korean exchanges fell 54.6% from the previous year to $366.58 billion. Part of the decline was attributed to capital flowing into South Korea’s stock market, which reached record highs amid strong performances from companies including Samsung and SK Hynix.
Smaller exchanges cut fees to compete with Upbit
As crypto trading activity returns, smaller exchanges are waiving fees to attract regular traders and support platforms facing financial pressure.
Coinone said it would eliminate trading fees for all listed coins until further notice. Digital X, formerly Korbit, introduced zero-fee trading across its market through August 2027.
After the change, Digital X’s average hourly trading volume increased 36-fold, rising from 270 million won to 9.8 billion won. However, 87% of the increase came from trading in a single stablecoin, RLUSD, which the exchange distributed to large traders during a special event.
Coinone’s trading volume tripled to 8.2 billion won per hour after it removed fees, but activity soon returned to normal levels.
Bithumb used a similar strategy with a 68-day fee-free period last year. Although its trading volume increased temporarily, the exchange’s market share did not exceed 30%. Bithumb repeated the strategy for seven days in February.
Upbit and Bithumb have so far waived fees only on selected tokens. Upbit, for example, removed charges on stablecoins such as Tether (USDT-USD) starting July 26.
Meanwhile, Digital X’s parent company, Mirae Asset Financial Group, is reportedly negotiating to acquire Korbit for up to 140 billion won, or $97.5 million.
