South Korean Virtual Asset Exchanges See Sharp Decline in New Listings, Trading Volume Halved
According to EToday, South Korea's top five virtual asset exchanges (Upbit, Bithumb, Coinone, Korbit, Gopax) added only 117 new trading listings in the first half of the year, a 44% decrease from 210 in the same period last year; the net increase plummeted from 191 to 49, a year-on-year decline of 74%. Meanwhile, the number of delistings surged from 19 to 68, an increase of 258%. Global virtual asset trading volume recorded $46.07 billion in June, down 34% from $70 billion in the same period last year. The shrinkage in trading volume directly compressed fee income; Dunamu (Upbit's parent company) and Bithumb's first-quarter fee income accounted for 97.49% and 99.99% of operating revenue respectively, highlighting the issue of high dependency on retail spot trading.
