Trading Volume on South Korean Crypto Exchange Upbit Crashes 75%

Daily
trading
volume
on
South
Korea’s
biggest
cryptocurrency
exchange
has
tumbled
75%
from
this
year’s
high
in
a
sign
that
frenzied
trading
in
alternative
cryptocurrencies
(altcoins)
has
fizzled
and
digital
assets
other
than
market
leaders
bitcoin

(BTC)
and
ether

(ETH)
may
struggle
to
maintain
lofty
valuations.

Upbit,
which
lists
192
cryptocurrencies
and
offers
trading
in
309
pairs,
registered
just
$3.79
billion
of
volume
in
the
past
24
hours,
according
to
data
source

CoinGecko.
That’s
down
from
as
high
as
$15
billion
on
March
5,
when
TradingView
data
shows
the
total
market
cap
of
altcoins
surged
to
a
two-year
high
of
$788
billion.
Market
cap
has
since
steadied
at
about
$750
billion.

“Crypto
trading
volumes
started
skyrocketing
in
early
March
as
a
wave
of
altcoin
activity
hit
the
market,”
Matrixport
said
in
a
Telegram
broadcast.
“The
anticipation
of
the
Dencun
upgrade
with
low
transaction
fees
caused
this
mania,
and
some
political
developments
brought
crypto
to
the
forefront
of
the
political
election.
However,
with
volumes
declining,
the
sustainability
of
the
altcoin
rally
comes
into
question.”

Daily
volume
on
Upbit
rocketed
from
$2
billion
in
the
two
weeks
to
March
5
as
bitcoin’s
move
to
record
highs
above
$70,000
and
Ethereum’s

Dencun
upgrade
spurred
risk-taking
in
other
cryptocurrencies,
including
meme
coins.
Such
was
the
trading
frenzy
that,
at
one
point,
volumes
on
South
Korea-based
crypto
exchanges

surpassed
the
local
stock
market
activity.

South
Korean
crypto
fans
appear
to
focus
more
on
altcoins
than
bitcoin
and
ether,
the
two
largest
cryptocurrencies
by
market
cap.
A
study
by

DeSpread
Research
in
October
said
Upbit’s
investors
are
primarily
interested
in
maximizing
profits
through
altcoins
and
tend
to
accept
the
high
risks
associated
with
these
coins.
Bitcoin
and
ether
trading
pairs
account
for
a
smaller
portion
of
total
volume
on
Upbit
than
on
Nasdaq-listed
Coinbase
(COIN),
where
activity
is
mainly
concentrated
in
BTC
an
ETH.

At
the
time
of
writing,
bitcoin-Korean
won
and
ether-won
trading
pairs
accounted
for
just
over
9%
of
the
total
24-hour
trading
volume
of
$3.8
billion.
The
rest
came
from
altcoin-fiat
trading
pairs.