TLDR
- Upbit represented 71.6% of the total volume of the cryptography of South Korea in the first half of 2025.
- The platform has managed transactions worth 833 Billions of Won, which is equivalent to around $ 642 billion US dollars.
- The closest competitor to Upbit, Bithumb, captured only 25.8% of the market, with a commercial volume of 300 won billions.
- Smaller exchanges such as Coinone, Korbit and Gopax contributed to less than 5% combined with the volume of the market.
- Upbit recorded an average daily trading volume of 4.6 Billions of Won while Bithumb was on an average of 1.6 Billion of Wons.
The South Korean regulators confirmed that Upbit had captured 71.6% of the exchanges of interior crypto at the beginning of 2025. This figure raises concerns among the legislators and the leaders of the industry concerning antitrust issues. Meanwhile, smaller exchanges continue to lose relevance while Upbit consolidates his domination.
Upbit dominates the market in the midst of the regulatory examination
Upbit dealt with 833 billions of ₩ ₩ of 833 billions ($ 642 billion) in crypto in just six months of 2025. The total volume in all local exchanges was $ 1,162 billions of dollars (895 billion dollars), which placed far away. In comparison, Bithumb has only managed $ 300 billions ($ 223 billion), claiming a share of 25.8%.
These figures come from the financial supervision service (FSS) via the Lee Heon-Seung legislator. The Upbit operator, Dunamu, could soon merge with the Internet Naver giant. This potential merger could further strengthen the position of Upbit on the cryptocurrency market.
Daily transaction data also illustrates the gap. Upbit posted 4.6 Billions ($ 3.36 billion) of average daily trades. Bithumb followed with 1.6 billion of ₩ ₩ 6,000 billion dollars), maintaining a distant second.
Ipo Bithumb Eyes but follows Upbit
Bithumb is preparing to register on the NASDAQ in 2026 to increase visibility and world capital. Despite this ambition, it remains far behind Upbit in terms of commercial activity. However, analysts suggest that Bithumb can gain ground with regulatory rear winds or new user strategies.
The exchange has shown an intention to strengthen its platform and its services. It aims to regain a market share of the strong position of Upbit. However, the new data suggest that this effort remains a difficult battle.
The basic user statistics highlight this gap. Upbit holds 53% of the country’s 10.17 million users of cryptography. Bithumb commands 37%, leaving little room for others.
Smaller exchanges near the release of the market
Coinone, Korbit and Gopax are faced with declining relevance and minimal user engagement. Coinone treated 20.8 billions ($ 16 billion), while Korbit recorded only 5.5 billion dollars ($ 4 billion). Gopax has further delayed, with 2.8 billions of ₩ ($ 2.15 billion), which barely had an impact on the market.
Daily negotiation volumes for these exchanges remain low. Coinone has reached an average of $ 100 billion ($ 77 million) per day, Korbit 30 billion ($ 23 million) and only 10 billion ($ 7.7 million). FSS data show a striking drop in Korbit 2022 volume levels, which once exceeded 100 billion per day.
User figures also reflect the decline. The three combined exchanges contain only 10% of users around 990,000 people. The media described their influence as “negligible”.
Monopolistic concerns intensifies
Industry experts fear systemic risks if Upbit controls lists and costs of costs. An official warned: “Such monopolies could destabilize the entire cryptography ecosystem”. The regulators are under pressure to introduce measures guaranteeing fair competition.
Observers recalled that Upbit had once reached more than 80% market share in 2024. Comparisons with Coinbase highlight the platform scale. Critics argue that the Naver merger could further widen the gap.
Legislators call for urgent regulatory intervention. The Government of Seoul faces assembly calls to prevent Upbit from becoming an uncontrolled monopoly. The question of whether new rules will emerge remain uncertain.
