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South Korea’s top five crypto exchanges post five weeks of volume declines

South Korea’s top five crypto exchanges post five weeks of volume declines

Trading activity has fallen below KRW 10 trillion as aggregate turnover hit its lowest level since September 2023, with Upbit still dominating despite a smaller market share.

Fact Check
Four independent sources across three languages (Korean-language Digital Asset, Japanese bitbank, and English BeInCrypto/CryptoRank) consistently report that the five largest South Korean fiat crypto exchanges (Upbit, Bithumb, Coinone, Korbit, Gopax) posted a fifth consecutive weekly volume decline, falling below KRW 10 trillion (~9.97 trillion won / $6.65B) for July 3-10, a two-year (or ~2yr 9mo) low. Both the '10 trillion won' threshold and the 'five weeks of decline' match the claim precisely. Digital Asset provides granular market-share data reinforcing authenticity. The consistency of specific figures (9.9676 trillion won, 25.75% w/w, 43.5% monthly) across sources strongly supports the claim.
Summary

South Korea’s five largest crypto exchanges have recorded five consecutive weeks of declining trading volume, with aggregate turnover falling below KRW 10 trillion for the first time since September 2023. Combined volume on Upbit, Bithumb, Coinone, Korbit and Gopax totaled about KRW 9.9676 trillion for July 3-10, down 25.75% from roughly KRW 13.4 trillion a week earlier, according to Digital Asset’s analysis. Upbit remained the market leader with a 63.02% share, though that was down 3.95 percentage points from the previous week. The latest data underscores a broad slowdown in one of Asia’s most retail-driven crypto markets, where weaker turnover can signal softer liquidity, reduced speculative appetite and pressure on exchange fee revenue.

Terms & Concepts
  • trading volume: The total value of assets bought and sold over a given period.