In the first quarter of 2024, the South Korean won has emerged as the most widely traded fiat currency against cryptocurrencies globally. According to a research report by Kaiko on April 15, the won accounted for a trading volume of over $456 billion on centralized crypto exchanges, surpassing the $455 billion volume of the US dollar.
Kaiko’s report attributes the growing dominance of the won to the “fee war” taking place among Korean crypto exchanges. The report highlights that Euro-denominated trading pairs could only accumulate a cumulative volume worth $59 billion, placing them in third position for the first quarter of 2024.
As the leading crypto exchange in the region, Upbit has maintained over 82% of South Korea’s crypto market share since 2021. However, the recent bull run has intensified competition among rival exchanges. Both Bithumb and Korbit launched zero-fee campaigns towards the end of 2023, with Bithumb experiencing a threefold increase in market share after implementing the zero-fee policy in October 2023. Nonetheless, this aggressive strategy resulted in a significant drop in revenue for Bithumb, as reported by Kaiko.
Kaiko also highlighted that volumes for the Korean won declined in early April but expects a substantial rebound with the approval of spot Bitcoin and Ether exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in Hong Kong. It has been reported that Hong Kong’s financial regulator has given the green light to three spot Bitcoin ETFs, which are anticipated to be listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in approximately two weeks.
In related news, the price of Ethereum (ETH) is nearing three-year lows compared to Bitcoin (BTC), sparking discussions about whether an Ethereum ETF will help reverse this trend.
Report states Korean won is now the most actively traded fiat currency for cryptocurrency traders globally.