Trading volume across South Korea’s five major cryptocurrency exchanges fell 19.56% week over week to approximately 20.5 trillion won, or about $15.1 billion, between September 25 and October 2. The decline reduced weekly activity by roughly 5 trillion won as the domestic market entered another period of weaker trading activity.
Upbit remained South Korea’s dominant exchange during the period, accounting for 64.04% of combined trading volume. However, its share declined by 3.3 percentage points from the previous week, allowing rival platforms to capture a larger portion of the market despite the overall contraction in activity.
Bithumb remained in second place with a 26.66% share, up 1.893 percentage points. Coinone ranked third at 6.58%, gaining 1.12 percentage points, while Digital X reached 2.71% and Gopax accounted for 0.02%.
The weekly decline does not by itself identify a specific cause for the reduction in trading activity. No single cryptocurrency, exchange event or regulatory action was identified as the driver of the 19.56% drop. The figures instead provide another indication of softer participation across South Korea’s major won-based crypto platforms.
The latest data also fit into a broader weakening trend during 2026. Official figures from South Korea’s financial authorities showed that average daily trading volume at domestic virtual asset exchanges fell 44% during the first half of the year compared with the previous six months.
During the same period, domestic crypto market capitalization declined by 28.3 trillion won, or 33%, while deposits denominated in Korean won on exchanges fell 35%. Exchange revenue dropped 41%, accompanied by a 78% decline in operating profit.
The deterioration in trading activity has occurred despite a slight increase in the number of accounts eligible to transact. That divergence suggests that the number of participants alone has not translated into higher turnover across the domestic market.
Market concentration also remains pronounced. Upbit and Bithumb together represented more than 90% of the combined trading activity among the five major platforms during the latest weekly period. The decline in Upbit’s share therefore represents a redistribution of activity within an otherwise smaller market rather than evidence of broad-based growth among competing exchanges.
The market is also operating under tighter regulatory requirements. South Korean authorities have continued strengthening controls around virtual asset service providers, including financial soundness, cybersecurity, internal controls and anti-money-laundering requirements.
The key issue for South Korea’s crypto market is whether the latest weekly contraction develops into a sustained decline or stabilizes after the recent weakness. A continued reduction in exchange volume would reinforce the broader first-half trend, while a recovery in turnover would indicate that the recent slowdown may be temporary.
