Upbit climbs to second spot in trading volume, beating OKX and Coinbase

South Korean cryptocurrency exchange Upbit last month beat both Coinbase and OKX in trading volumes for the first time.

In July, Upbit’s spot trading volume bucked the general market trend and soared over 42%, reaching nearly $30 billion, according to crypto data firm CCData.

Meanwhile, OKX and Coinbase didn’t have the best month, with their volumes dropping nearly 12% to $28.6 billion and over 5% to $29 billion, respectively, the report showed.

Upbit has now climbed to the second-largest exchange spot by trading volume. Binance is still the big player in crypto spot trading, with a massive $208 billion in volumes.

But Binance’s grip on the market is slipping. Its market share has fallen for the fifth month in a row, dropping to 40.4% in July, the lowest it’s been since August 2022, the report said.

Binance and Coinbase’s trading volumes have taken a hit as they are tangled up in legal battles with US regulators over allegedly offering unregistered securities.

South Korea has emerged to become one of the most visible markets in the crypto industry. This is a stark contrast to just a few years ago, when the South Korean government was quite skeptical about crypto, even contemplating a total ban. 

Instead of pursuing a ban, they’ve recently shifted course and begun introducing regulations.

In June, the enactment of the Virtual Asset Protection Act signaled a sophisticated legislative move, criminalizing market manipulation and targeting insider trading within the realm of digital assets.

This legislative advancement also empowers the Financial Services Commission to extend its oversight to encompass digital asset operators as well as asset custodians.

CCData separately identified a continued downward trend in trading volumes on centralized exchanges, which have languished at record lows in recent months. 

In July, the combined volume for spot and derivatives trading fell by 12% to $2.36 trillion. This marks the second-lowest combined volume on centralized exchanges since December 2020, highlighting the persistent slowdown in this segment of the market.

“The decrease in trading volumes can be attributed to the lack of volatility in the price action of major crypto assets, with Bitcoin and Ethereum largely trading in a narrow range throughout July,” the report said.

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