WuBlockchain
Weekly trading volume on South Korea's top five won-market crypto exchanges (Upbit, Bithumb, Coinone, Korbit and Gopax) fell below 10 trillion KRW for the first time in roughly two years and nine months, according to data from Digital Asset.
For the week of July 3 to 10, the five venues together processed about 9.97 trillion KRW, down 25.75% from the prior week's 13.4 trillion KRW and roughly 43.5% below the 17.7 trillion KRW recorded in early June. It is the fifth consecutive weekly decline and the first sub-10-trillion print since late September 2023.
Why it matters
South Korea is one of the deepest retail crypto markets in the world, and the won-denominated spot complex on Upbit in particular has historically acted as a high-beta gauge of Asian retail appetite. A drop of this magnitude over five weeks, ending in a multi-year low, signals a meaningful pullback in domestic trading activity, whether driven by retail fatigue, the post-halving Bitcoin lull, or capital rotating elsewhere.
Market impact
The kimchi premium, the persistent gap between Korean spot prices and overseas benchmarks, tends to compress when domestic volume collapses the way it has here. Watch whether quoted premiums on BTC and ETH on Upbit narrow toward parity in the coming weeks; that would confirm the drop is demand-driven rather than a venue-specific quirk. A bounce back above 12 trillion KRW in the next print would mark the contraction as a positioning reset rather than a structural shift.
Source: [국내 5대 거래소 주간 거래대금 10조원 붕괴...2년 9개월 만에 처음 — 디지털애셋 (Digital Asset)](https://www.digitalasset.works/news/articleView.html?idxno=41908)
Frequently asked questions
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Which South Korean exchanges are in the top five?
Upbit, Bithumb, Coinone, Korbit and Gopax, the five largest won-denominated spot crypto venues in the country, per Digital Asset's weekly aggregate.
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How far did Korean exchange volumes fall?
Weekly turnover dropped to about 9.97 trillion KRW for the week of July 3-10, down 25.75% week-over-week and roughly 43.5% below the 17.7 trillion KRW recorded in early June.
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When was the last time Korean volumes were this low?
It is the first sub-10-trillion KRW weekly print in roughly two years and nine months, the previous comparable low dating to late September 2023.
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What is the kimchi premium and why does it matter here?
The kimchi premium is the spread between Korean spot crypto prices and overseas benchmarks. It tends to compress when domestic volume collapses, so a narrowing premium on BTC and ETH on Upbit would confirm the volume drop is demand-driven.
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Could this be a temporary dip rather than a trend?
A bounce back above 12 trillion KRW in the next weekly print would suggest the five-week slide was a positioning reset. Sustained prints below 10 trillion KRW would point to a structural shift in Korean retail appetite.
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