Reshaping the Korea Exchange pattern: Upbit's share rises to 67%, and small to medium platforms are betting on financial integration and transformation breakthroughs

Comparatively, the volume of transactions in the Korean virtual asset market continues to shrink, and the competitive pattern among the five major Korean won exchanges is changing. During the market downturn, capital was further concentrated on platforms with leading liquidity, while small and medium-sized exchanges sought breakthroughs through securities company cooperation, institutional market layout, and business restructuring.

Data shows that in the first half of this year, Korea's top five Korean won exchanges (Upbit, Bithumb, Coinone, Korbit, Gopax) had a cumulative transaction volume of about 366.58 billion US dollars, a year-on-year decrease of 54.6%. From July 1 to 27, the five major exchanges had a cumulative trading volume of about 17.34 trillion won, down 16.9% from the same period last month. Among them, Upbit's trading volume was about 11.69 trillion won, but the market share increased from 62.3% to 67.4%; Bithumb's trading volume fell to 4.71 trillion won, and the share fell from 30.7% to 27.1%, widening the gap between the two to 40.3 percentage points.

Market analysts believe that the declining volatility of Bitcoin and altcoins is an important reason for shrinking transactions. In the first half of this year, the average daily volatility of Bitcoin was 1.25%, and the volatility of the altcoin index was 1.79%, all lower than the Korean stock market KOSPI index of 4.67%. In the context of shrinking market liquidity, investors' willingness to trade has declined, and exchanges that simply rely on transaction fee revenue are under greater pressure.

Meanwhile, midstream and downstream exchanges have begun to seek integration with traditional financial institutions. The industry believes that changes in the Korean exchange industry are similar to global trends. The US exchange Coinbase's recent transaction revenue is under pressure, but it has reduced its dependence on rival renewals through non-transactional services such as subscription services and escrow. The market is shifting from simply trading volume competition to competition in financial ecology, institutional services, and asset infrastructure. (NexBlock)