Trading Volume at Four Major Exchanges Five Times Higher Than a Month Ago
Volatility Inevitable with US Interest Rate Hike
[Asia Economy Reporter Gong Byung-sun] The cryptocurrency market is shrinking. Amid stagnant Bitcoin prices and a lack of positive developments related to non-fungible tokens (NFTs), the daily trading volume of the four major domestic cryptocurrency exchanges (Upbit, Bithumb, Coinone, and Korbit) has decreased to one-fifth of its level within a month.
According to cryptocurrency market tracking site CoinGecko on the 14th, the daily trading volume of the four major domestic cryptocurrency exchanges recorded approximately 4.3964 trillion KRW the previous day. Upbit’s trading volume was 3.125 trillion KRW, the lowest since July 21. At that time, Bitcoin prices had dropped to 34.82 million KRW. On that day, Bitcoin was recorded at 58.48 million KRW as of 12:27 PM, down 0.23% from the previous day.
The trading volume of the four major domestic exchanges is also rapidly declining. Since the sharp drop on the 4th, Bitcoin has not surpassed the 70 million KRW mark even once, and cryptocurrencies related to NFTs have also stalled. On the 16th of last month, Upbit’s daily trading volume alone reached approximately 18.7542 trillion KRW. Upbit alone exceeded the KOSPI’s trading volume (11.1012 trillion KRW) on the same day by a wide margin. Additionally, Bithumb, Coinone, and Korbit recorded trading volumes of 3.8708 trillion KRW, 571 billion KRW, and 27.3 billion KRW respectively, bringing the total trading volume of the four major exchanges to 23.2233 trillion KRW. This is about five times the trading volume of the four major exchanges on the recent day.
Recently, there has been no sign of a rebound momentum in the cryptocurrency market. At the end of last month, Upbit launched an NFT-exclusive marketplace, and Korbit received a 90 billion KRW investment from SK Square, but there has been little news since. Professor Hong Ki-hoon of Hongik University’s Department of Business Administration said, “Domestic cryptocurrency investors prefer cryptocurrencies with very high volatility rather than large-scale ones like Bitcoin,” adding, “Unless another positive development causes a tremendous surge, the cryptocurrency market will become even more stagnant.”
Future interest rate hikes in the United States are also expected to impact the cryptocurrency market. The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting scheduled for the 14th-15th (local time) is expected to signal interest rate hikes for next year. If interest rates rise, market liquidity will shrink, making a decline in asset values including cryptocurrencies inevitable. Relatedly, on the 10th, Robert Kiyosaki, famous author of “Rich Dad Poor Dad,” tweeted that “a recession is approaching” and predicted that assets such as Bitcoin, gold, silver, and real estate will also plummet.
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