South Korea: Assessing 2023s unique growth trends in the crypto market
South Korea has seen a surge in crypto trading activity. Local exchanges have outperformed their global counterparts in terms of trading volume. According to a report by DeSpread Research, approximately 6 million South Koreans have become crypto investors this year. This accounts for almost 10% of the population. The majority of these investors are actively trading on centralized exchanges. Thus, indicating the significant influence of such platforms in the Korean crypto market. Centralized exchanges across the globe experienced a decline in trading volume since March. This was largely due to Bitcoin‘s [BTC] sideways price movement. However, South Korea’s local exchanges witnessed trading volume growth that surpassed that of global leader Binance by July. Upbit, the countrys largest exchange, was one. One reason for this growth was the positive impact of Ripple‘s [XRP] price and trading volume following a favorable ruling in Ripple’s court case against the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Altcoins reign, and local exchanges dominate DeSpread Research highlighted that South Korean traders have a strong preference for altcoins and are less enthusiastic about major tokens like Bitcoin, Ethereum [ETH], and Polygon [MATIC]. This trend is attributed to the appeal of high-profit potential altcoins, despite their associated risks. This regional preference is