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South Korea’s top five crypto exchanges see volume plunge 89% year-on-year

South Korea’s top five crypto exchanges see volume plunge 89% year-on-year

Average daily turnover across South Korea’s five largest crypto exchanges fell to 597.8 billion won between July 1 and July 22, as a stock rally, lower Bitcoin prices and limited domestic products drew traders away.

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Fact Check
The specific figures in the claim (88% YoY decline, KRW 412.7 billion daily volume across five won-based exchanges) are consistently reported across the WuBlockchain X post citing ZDNet Korea and multiple independent crypto news outlets including bitbank.cc, Odaily, and Coinpedia. All corroborate identical numbers and context (Dunamu/Upbit revenue declines, Korbit asset sales), tracing back to a single Korean primary source, ZDNet Korea.
Summary

Trading across South Korea’s five largest crypto exchanges averaged 597.8 billion won between July 1 and July 22, equal to about $406 million and just 1.59% of daily turnover on the Kospi, as activity continued to retreat from the retail-driven frenzy seen in late 2024. The latest data from CoinGecko, cited by Korea JoongAng Daily, shows volumes are down about 97% from a daily peak of roughly 21 trillion won in November 2024, when traders piled into digital assets on expectations that Donald Trump’s incoming administration would pursue industry-friendly policies. Those expectations did not produce lasting momentum, and money has since shifted toward South Korean stocks as a semiconductor rally lifted the local market. Domestic trading remains heavily concentrated in Upbit and Bithumb, which handle more than 90% of volume, while some active investors have moved to offshore platforms such as Binance for leverage and other products that are largely unavailable in South Korea’s spot-focused market. Analysts also say local traders’ preference for smaller tokens over Bitcoin has made volumes more vulnerable as speculative demand faded.

Terms & Concepts
  • spot-focused market: A market centered on direct buying and selling of assets rather than derivatives such as leveraged futures.
  • leverage: Borrowed exposure that lets traders increase the size of their positions, magnifying gains and losses.
  • altcoins: Crypto tokens other than Bitcoin, often associated with higher volatility and speculative trading.