Upbit's Market Share Surges to 78.2% Amidst Booming Virtual Asset Market

With the virtual asset market continuing to boom for about a month after former U.S. President Donald Trump's victory in the presidential election, the market share of Upbit

The virtual asset market has continued to boom for about a month since former U.S. President Donald Trump's victory in the presidential election.

During this period, the market share of Upbit, the country's largest exchange, has seen a significant increase.

According to CoinGecko, a virtual asset information provider, on the 9th, Upbit's market share in the KRW market surged 21.7 percentage points from 56.5 percent on the 5th of last month, just before the U.S. presidential election, to 78.2 percent on the 7th of this month.

Notably, on the 4th, when the price of 1 bitcoin was on the verge of surpassing $100,000 for the first time ever, Upbit's share exceeded 80%.

In contrast to Upbit's gains, the share of Bithumb, the second-largest exchange, fell from 41.2 percent to 19.3 percent during the same period.

Meanwhile, the market shares of Coinone, Covit, and Gopax remained largely unchanged, hovering around 0 to 1 percent.

A market official attributed Upbit's rising market share to its superior liquidity, which makes buying and selling coins smoother compared to other exchanges, especially when trading volume increases.

However, the increasing dominance of Upbit has also sparked concerns about coin monopoly in the political arena.

Earlier, Rep. Lee Kang-il of the Democratic Party of Korea highlighted this issue, urging the government to take action.

Specifically, Lee pointed out that Upbit holds a monopoly in terms of the number of coins, deposits, sales, and fees.

In response to these concerns, Kim Byung-hwan, chairman of the Financial Services Commission, stated that the commission will establish a virtual asset committee to examine market structural and monopoly issues.