Daily trading volumes on South Korean exchanges have reached their highest point since August last year, with altcoins dominating transactions, according to data from blockchain analytics firm Kaiko.
Trading activities on major South Korean platforms, including Upbit, BithumbCoinone and Korbit, rose to an average of over $4 billion in late October and early November before falling to over $3 billion.
CCData data, such as reported by Bloomberg, also corroborates these upward trading activities in the South Korean stock markets. According to the report, crypto trading platforms in the Asian country saw their market shares increase up around 13% from 5.2% recorded in January.
Around this period, the cryptocurrency market saw flagship digital assets such as Bitcoin (btc), Ethereum (ETH), and Solana (SUN) rally to new yearly highs driven by market optimism regarding the possible approval of a cash exchange-traded fund (ETF) in the United States.
However, South Korean cryptocurrency traders trade altcoins heavily, according to CryptoQuant analysts.
Upbit dominates
Meanwhile, the the dock The data reaffirms Upbit's dominance of the South Korean crypto market as the exchange accounts for the majority of trading activities.
the dock noted that Upbit's market dominance had soared to 90% in May last year before falling slightly to around 80% in October 2023. account for 88% of all trading activities on Upbit.
On the other hand, its rival, Bithumb, controls around 20% of the market. Over the past year, the crypto exchange's leadership faced several challenges, and its majority shareholder, Kang Jong-hyun, was arrested for alleged embezzlement of approximately $50 million.
This has resulted in his latest efforts to rebuild public trust planning an Initial Public Offering (IPO) by 2025 and eliminating transaction fees.
