XRP dominates South Korea as one in four Koreans trade the token on Upbit

Upbit, one of the country’s largest exchanges, which has captured 70% of South Korea’s crypto market, stated that XRP has amassed 13.26 million users in a country of approximately 51 million people, or 1 in 4 Koreans. XRP also captured 15-22% of daily volumes with a peak of a whopping $1.22 billion in a single day in July 2025. 

The crypto exchange says that XRP did better than both Bitcoin and Ethereum by consistently getting up to 22% of daily volume. The trading volume stands at $1 trillion.

The XRP/KRW on Upbit sees a 156% surge in an hour

The platform attracted 1.1 million new users during the year. The analysis identified 12:00 a.m. UTC as the most active trading hour on Upbit. This time corresponds to 9:00 a.m. Korean Standard Time (KST) is the opening of the traditional business day in South Korea.

BREAKING 🚨🚨🚨 $XRP dominated Bitcoin in South Korea, and the data is undeniable!

Upbit confirms XRP was the most traded asset of 2025 in the most active retail market on Earth.

Not price talk. Volume, liquidity, usage. XRP/KRW ranked #1 most of the year, Upbit is processing… pic.twitter.com/OGEy2HglT1

— X Finance Bull (@Xfinancebull) January 8, 2026

The report also highlighted that over 52% of users are in their 30s and 40s. This differs from some Western markets, which historically had a stronger skew toward younger investors in their 20s.

The report also ranked XRP/KRW as the most traded pair of the year. The consistent high-volume trading of XRP ensured deep liquidity for XRP/KRW. Coinglass data confirms this trend. The XRP/KRW on Upbit saw a 156% surge in an hour yesterday. Meanwhile, the XRP/USDT pair on Binance, the world’s largest exchange by trade volume, saw a 69% increase.

At the same time,  Coinbase, Gate, Bybit, Crypto.com, and OKX have all seen volume spikes, with their 1-hour volumes ranging from $1.4 million to $3.12 million. Only Bitstamp witnessed a drop within this period.

Data from other exchanges also show that interest in XRP remains strong. In Australia, XRP recently overtook Bitcoin as the most traded digital asset on BTC Markets. Although Bitcoin recorded a 70% price increase in 2025 and reached a new all-time high, Australian traders increasingly focused on XRP during the financial year. 

Average trade sizes rose by 25%, daily trading volumes increased by 17%, and participation expanded among older investors, women, and self-managed super funds. XRP itself saw notable price movements, reaching $3.34 in January 2025 and peaking near $3.66 by July before falling roughly 50% to around $1.80 by year-end.

XRP declines by over 18% in 3 months

In addition to trading, institutional demand for XRP has developed through ETFs. More than $1.5 billion has gone into XRP ETFs so far. For example, even though XRP had dropped 18.11% in the preceding three months, the Bitwise XRP ETF saw $4.51 million come in on a single day in January.

However, despite strong institutional demand, on-chain data show a decline in DEX volume and stablecoin adoption on the XRPL. This has made traders worry that XRP’s growing financial appeal isn’t being matched by real-world use.

Analysts say that new ETF derivatives and clearer rules in the US and UK are likely to change the direction of XRP, but price fluctuations are still a big problem. XRP, on the other hand, has dropped below the $2.2 barrier and is presently trading at $2.02, down 2% in the last 24 hours.

At this time, the broader crypto market is going in the wrong direction. The crypto market has gone down by 1.09% in the last 24 hours, bringing its total value to $3.23 trillion. A similar tendency is also happening with top assets like Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana.

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