Korea's crypto exchanges need room to become financial platforms
In January 2018, Upbit recorded $7.57 billion in daily trading volume, making it the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange by volume. Binance ranked second, while Bithumb, another Korean exchange, came in third. Eight years later, the landscape looks very different. On Thursday, Binance recorded more than $10 billion in trading volume, compared with about $1 billion for Upbit and $436.2 million…
In January 2018, Upbit led the world in cryptocurrency exchange trading volume, with $7.57 billion daily. Binance and Bithumb followed, ranking second and third respectively. Today, the picture is vastly different. Binance recorded over $10 billion in trading volume on Thursday, while Upbit and Bithumb saw about $1 billion and $436.2 million respectively, according to CoinGecko.
The cryptocurrency downturn has impacted exchanges globally. However, major overseas platforms have diversified into derivatives, staking, and other businesses, providing them with additional avenues to survive a prolonged industry slump. In contrast, Korean exchanges remain primarily focused on spot trading under the present regulatory framework, making them more vulnerable when trading volumes decline.
To counter this, five Korean crypto exchanges are currently offering zero trading fees, sparking a price war for market share. As the global digital asset market expands beyond spot trading, the disparity becomes increasingly apparent. Institutional capital is now entering through Bitcoin and Ethereum spot exchanges.
Written by urgent.news from The Korea Times's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
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- Korea's crypto exchanges need room to become financial platforms koreatimes.co.kr
