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Trading on Upbit, South Korea’s largest crypto exchange, jumped 273% over the past 24 hours to roughly $1.84 billion, representing its busiest day since mid-March.
XRP was reportedly the single most-traded token as a rise in bitcoin’s price pulled Korean money off the sidelines.
Why are so many people trading XRP?
XRP has surpassed bitcoin, USDT, and ether with about $418.9 million recorded on Upbit in the past day. The token is in the lead on Bithumb’s list as well, where its volume climbed by 132.9% to $934.9 million.
XRP also ranked third among the most-viewed cryptocurrencies in South Korea, behind only bitcoin and ether, and its price sat near $1.38 after a 20.1% gain on the day and a 38.1% rise over the week.
The sudden spike in XRP trading is due to Bitcoin’s 8.3% increase in price to around $78,554. Even the wider crypto market benefited from bitcoin’s rise, gaining 7.2%. Cryptopolitan has reported that the Bitcoin rally is because of the U.S. Treasury Department’s expanded debt buyback plan.
Trading also jumped by 273% over the past 24 hours on Upbit, bringing the volume to about $1.84 billion.
Min Jung from Presto Research says Korean investors are “return-chasers,” who are not loyal to any particular asset and usually buy what’s already going up.
It’s only been two days, so it’s too soon to call it a shift, but if the rally continues, more Korean money will likely flow in. Typically, global trends pull Korean funds in, which then make the move bigger rather than spark it.
How have Korean exchanges performed so far in 2026?
The surge in XRP’s trading stands out because Korea’s exchanges have so far spent 2026 in retreat. Cryptopolitan reported that the combined first-half turnover at the country’s five won-based exchanges fell by 54.6% from a year earlier to $366.58 billion.
Upbit and Bithumb each posted roughly 50% drops in first-half operating revenue. Upbit’s net profit fell 74% over the period, while Bithumb slid into a net loss.
The KOSPI index hit record highs thanks to an AI-driven boom in Samsung and SK Hynix, so Korean traders were more drawn to invest in the semiconductor industry over crypto. Cryptopolitan documented that some traders and investors even moved into KOSPI-related products on platforms like Hyperliquid.
Jung sees the current interest in crypto as a catch-up strategy since stocks have already rallied hard while crypto lagged. Investors are now looking for assets that haven’t moved as much yet.
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