Global crypto rally sends trading volumes soaring at Korean exchanges

Trading volumes surged at Korean crypto exchanges in recent days after bitcoin and ethereum prices rebounded sharply, industry officials said Wednesday.

The rebound is raising expectations that the recovery in crypto prices will translate into improved fee revenue for local exchanges, which have suffered weak earnings amid a prolonged trading slump.

According to CoinMarketCap and other cryptocurrency data providers, daily trading volume on Upbit, the country’s largest crypto exchange, had hovered between 300 billion won ($217 million) and 600 billion won for a week before Aug. 20. It surpassed 1 trillion won on the afternoon of Aug. 20, when bitcoin approached $70,000, before reaching 4.61 trillion won as of 3 p.m. Saturday, nearly 10 times the level a week earlier.

Trading volume has since moderated but remained at around 2 trillion won a day.

Other won-denominated crypto exchanges also saw trading activity pick up over the weekend.

Bithumb’s 24-hour trading volume exceeded 2 trillion won as of 3 p.m. Saturday, while Coinone, Korbit and GOPAX also recorded higher-than-usual trading volumes of 157.7 billion won, 28.3 billion won and 800 million won, respectively.

Until early this month, the broader crypto market had been weighed down by weak trading activity, with major cryptocurrencies trading well below their previous highs.