South Korea's cryptocurrency trading volume fell 19.56% in a week

South Korea's cryptocurrency trading volume fell 19.56% in a week

According to Crypto.news citing Digital Asset data, the total trading volume of South Korea's five largest cryptocurrency exchanges fell to approximately 20.5 trillion won (approximately US$15.1 billion), a decrease of 19.56% from the previous week. In the seven days ending at 2 pm Korean Standard Time on October 2, market activity dropped by approximately 5 trillion won (approximately US$3.7 billion).

Data covering Upbit, Bithumb, Coinone, Digital X and Gopax shows that while the decline in trading volume is not directly attributable to a single cryptocurrency, exchange event or regulatory action, this data set cannot alone explain why traders chose to retreat.

Key facts

• Overall size: The total trading volume of the five exchanges from September 25 to October 2 was approximately 20.5 trillion won (US$15.1 billion), a month-on-month decrease of 19.56%.
• Changes in market share: Upbit's trading share fell 3.3 percentage points to 64.04%, while Bithumb increased 1.893 percentage points to 26.66%.
• Regulatory data: The Korea Financial Intelligence Agency (KoFIU) conducted an investigation into 26 registered virtual asset service providers. The report shows that the average daily trading volume in the first half of 2026 dropped by 44% year-on-year. During the same period, exchange sales fell 41%, operating profit fell 78%, while the number of accounts eligible for trading increased only slightly by 0.4%.
• Token distribution: Among the 673 different virtual assets circulated on South Korean platforms, 93 are exchange-exclusive tokens with a market value of less than 100 million won, accounting for about 40% of this category.

A calm week versus weak annual performance

Crypto.news and Cointelegraph describe two different measures of the same weak market, and this difference is crucial. The 19.56% decline is a private sector snapshot of one week and five platforms. The 44% and 78% declines came from the Korea Financial Intelligence Agency and the Financial Supervisory Agency (FSS). The latter released a first-half review report on its domestic virtual asset market on October 1.

The regulatory review released by the Korea Financial Intelligence Agency and reported by Cointelegraph found that in the first half of 2026, the total market value of South Korea's crypto market fell by 33%, with losses reaching 28.3 trillion won; exchange deposits denominated in won fell by 35%; exchange revenue fell by 41%. PANNews also carried the same investigation details, noting that the review covered the period from January 1 to June 30 and involved 17 exchange operators and nine custody and wallet providers.

Cointelegraph also reported that this weakness has continued beyond a single semi-annual cycle. A separate analysis by Cointelegraph in July found that the combined average daily trading volume of Upbit, Bithumb, Coinone, Kbit and Gopax fell sharply by about 89% year-on-year in comparable seven days, while South Korea's benchmark stock index KOSPI more than doubled in the 12 months ended July 22. In May this year, the value of crypto assets held by South Korean investors fell 50.2% in one year to 60.6 trillion won (US$41.4 billion), a move South Korean media ChosunBiz attributed to the shift of capital to the stock market.

Upbit remains first, as competitors erode share

As of October 2, the exchange's ranking remains unchanged. Upbit, Bithumb and other platforms maintained the same rankings as the previous week, but the internal landscape shifted. Upbit's 64.04% share fell 3.3 percentage points, while Bithumb grew 1.893 percentage points to 26.66%, allowing the two platforms to control more than 90% of the five exchange markets.

Coinone ranked third with a share of 6.58%, an increase of 1.12 percentage points. Digital X, formerly known as Korbit, increased by 0.316 percentage points to 2.71%. Gopax still ranks fifth with a share of 0.02%. Crypto.news pointed out that with Mirae Asset taking over, Korbit's service was renamed Digital X on September 16, its company name changed on August 11, and customer assets, transaction history and account data remained unchanged.

市场薄弱的另一端流动性仍是担忧所在。韩国金融情报院指出了交易所专属代币价格剧烈波动的风险。Crypto.news报道称，基于韩元的交易所月度周转率在100%至201%之间，而纯币平台仅为2%至9%。

影响分析

交易量的下降直接影响韩国交易者所依赖平台的生存能力。在上半年的收入下降41%、运营利润下降78%的背景下，监管者要求更多的上市、合规和安全工作，而交易所用于资助这些工作的空间更小。更薄的订单簿意味着散户买家和卖家面临更宽的点差和更剧烈的价格波动，特别是在韩国金融情报院特别指出的交易所专属代币方面。此外，家庭资本向KOSPI的转移表明，这一衰退不仅仅是一个加密故事——它是韩国零售储蓄者资金重新配置的结果。

未来关注点

下一个考验是10月2日的上市情况在疲软市场中能否维持：Bithumb当天新增了Talus对韩元交易对，Upbit列出了Dolphin对KRW、BTC和USDT的交易对。此外，金融委员会（FSC）8月框架的实施也在等待中，该框架将韩国“旅行规则”扩展到注册虚拟资产服务提供商之间所有规模的转账，并要求一旦条款生效，向海外提供商或钱包运营商转移至少1000万韩元的款项需向韩国金融情报院报告。

常见问题解答

截至10月2日的一周内，韩国加密货币交易量下降了多少？

Upbit、Bithumb、Coinone、Digital X和Gopax的合并交易量环比下降19.56%，降至约20.5万亿韩元（约151亿美元），降幅约为5万亿韩元。

是否有任何交易所在下跌期间获得了市场份额？

是的。Upbit的份额滑落3.3个百分点至64.04%，而Bithumb上升至26.66%，Coinone至6.58%，Digital X至2.71%，Gopax至0.02%。

韩国金融情报院2026年上半年的调查发现了什么？

监管机构对26家注册的虚拟资产服务提供商进行了调查，发现平均每日交易量下降44%，市值下降33%，韩元存款下降35%，销售额下降41%，运营利润下降78%。

为什么交易所数据和韩国金融情报院的数据衡量的是不同的内容？

每周19.56%的下滑是来自数字资产的私人七天快照，而44%和78%的降幅则来自韩国金融情报院的六个月监管调查。两份报告使用的时间窗口不同，不可直接比较。

韩国加密法规是否正在收紧？

是的。金融服务委员会于2026年8月批准了更严格的虚拟资产服务提供商注册和反洗钱规则，且“旅行规则”现已适用于注册虚拟资产服务提供商之间所有规模的转账。