Daily trading volumes on South Korean exchanges have reached their highest since August last year, with altcoins dominating transactions, according to facts from blockchain analytics company Kaiko.
Trading activity on major South Korean platforms including Upbit, Bithumb, Coinone and Korbit rose to an average of more than $4 billion in late October and early November before falling to more than $3 billion.
Data from CCData, such as reported from Bloomberg, also confirms this upward trading activity on the South Korean stock markets. According to the report, crypto trading platforms in the Asian country saw their market share rise to around 13%, up from the 5.2% recorded in January.
Around this time, the crypto market saw flagship digital assets such as Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), and Solana (SOL) soar to new annual highs, driven by market optimism surrounding the potential approval of a spot exchange-traded fund (ETF). ) in the United States.
However, according to analysts at CryptoQuant, South Korean crypto traders are trading heavily in altcoins.
Upbit dominates
Meanwhile, the Kaiko data confirms Upbit’s dominance in the South Korean crypto market, as the exchange is responsible for most of the trading activity.
Kaiko noted that Upbit’s market dominance had risen to 90% by May last year, before declining slightly to around 80% by October 2023. account for 88% of all trading activity on Upbit.
On the other hand, its rival, Bithumb, controls about 20% of the market. Over the past year, the crypto exchange’s leadership has faced several challenges, with its majority shareholder, Kang Jong-hyun, arrested for embezzling around $50 million.
This has resulted in her latest efforts to restore public confidence by planning an initial public offering (IPO) for 2025 and eliminating transaction fees.