Share this article

XRP Trading Volumes Hit $2.5B on South Korean Exchange UpBit

The trading volume of XRP against the Korean won was the highest among all other counterparts .

Updated Jul 14, 2023, 2:54 p.m. Published Jul 14, 2023, 9:16 a.m.
jwp-player-placeholder

Trading volumes of XRP tokens against the Korean won hit $2.5 billion on South Korean exchange UpBit in the past 24 hours, the highest among counterparts, in a sign of speculative frenzy.

This was more than 50% of the total trading volumes on UpBit in that period. Data shows market depth stood at nearly $5 million as of Asian morning hours, suggesting ample liquidity for the tokens as a $5 million buy or sell order would move the tokens only 2% on the exchange. Such liquidity is usually under $1 million, historical data shows.

STORY CONTINUES BELOW
Don't miss another story.Subscribe to the Crypto Daybook Americas Newsletter today. See all newsletters

The surge came as a U.S. court ruled the sale of XRP on exchanges did not constitute investment contracts. XRP rose as much as 96% following the court order before giving back gains on Friday morning.

Bitcoin and ether usually account for the majority of the trading activity on UpBit, which makes the XRP volume surge an anomaly. Overall, ten South Korean exchanges turned billions of dollars worth of XRP - contributing to a significant part of the $13 billion in volumes across global exchanges.

Crypto exchange Binance, in comparison, traded a relatively lesser $2.2 million, CoinGecko data shows.

In crypto circles, South Korean traders are known for pushing euphoric rallies on tokens. The so-called Kimchi Premium originates from the region – where prices of bitcoin on local exchanges can trade at a premium of as much as 30% compared to international counterparts, driven by local demand.

However, some of that volume may be attributable to wash trading, a manipulative technique where traders continually buy and sell the same asset to drive up volumes in order to create a false impression of market activity.

More For You

Protocol Research: GoPlus Security

GP Basic Image

What to know:

  • As of October 2025, GoPlus has generated $4.7M in total revenue across its product lines. The GoPlus App is the primary revenue driver, contributing $2.5M (approx. 53%), followed by the SafeToken Protocol at $1.7M.
  • GoPlus Intelligence's Token Security API averaged 717 million monthly calls year-to-date in 2025 , with a peak of nearly 1 billion calls in February 2025. Total blockchain-level requests, including transaction simulations, averaged an additional 350 million per month.
  • Since its January 2025 launch , the $GPS token has registered over $5B in total spot volume and $10B in derivatives volume in 2025. Monthly spot volume peaked in March 2025 at over $1.1B , while derivatives volume peaked the same month at over $4B.

More For You

U.S. Interest Rates, Do Kwon Sentencing: Crypto Week Ahead

Federal Reserve logo highlighted on a U.S. banknote (joshua-hoehne/Unsplash/Modified by CoinDesk)

Your look at what's coming in the week starting Dec. 8.

What to know:

You are reading Crypto Week Ahead: a comprehensive list of what's coming up in the world of cryptocurrencies and blockchain in the coming days, as well as the major macroeconomic events that will influence digital asset markets. For an updated daily email reminder of what's expected, click here to sign up for Crypto Daybook Americas. You won't want to start your day without it.