Upbit is the largest cryptocurrency exchange in Asia’s financial superpower, South Korea. The cryptocurrency exchange supports 214 currencies and 372 trading pairs. It has nearly 5.72 million visits per month and a 24-hour trading volume of $1,184,877,458. In the past 24 hours, the exchange’s trading volume has dropped by 5.6%.
The recent decline coincides with a political attack on the exchange by Lee Kang-il, who expressed concern about the growing monopoly in the country’s cryptocurrency space, where Upbit holds a dominant position. Not only exchanges, but the entire cryptocurrency industry has felt the impact of the political stance against the monopolistic tendencies in South Korea’s cryptocurrency space.
SK Financial Supervisory Commission to investigate Upbit’s monopolistic behavior
In response to the issue raised by Rep. Lee during the National Audit in Congress, the Financial Services Commission of South Korea issued a public statement addressing the issue of cryptocurrency monopoly. Kim Byung-hwan acknowledged the severity of the issue.
Upbit’s controversial financial relationship with K-Bank
Lee also expressed concerns about the close financial alliance between K-bank and Upbit. He criticized the bank’s decision to offer a 2.1% interest rate on Upbit deposits despite K-bank’s operating profit margin of less than 1%. The FSC chairman promised to fully resolve all issues through the Virtual Asset Committee.
What was Upbit’s response?
The cryptocurrency exchange has recently made progress in complying with South Korea’s cryptocurrency regulatory framework. In July, the exchange introduced effective measures to prevent insider cryptocurrency trading under the (Virtual Asset User Protection Act).
Cryptocurrency Markets in Trouble?
In early 2018, the cryptocurrency market was hit hard when some of Upbit’s senior executives were investigated for suspected fraud. The latest signals from the market suggest that the situation in 2018 will repeat itself.
Bitcoin is down 2.11% in the past 24 hours. On October 6, the Bitcoin price peaked at $62,817. Yesterday, the Bitcoin price dropped from $62,146 to $60,628. Currently, the market is struggling to break above the previous day’s opening price, which saw the BTC price at $60,955.
The same is true for the Ethereum market. On October 6, the price of ETH was $2,440. On October 9, the market dropped from $2,440 to $2,407. Currently, the market is struggling to recover and the price of ETH is $2,395.
The total market capitalization of the entire cryptocurrency market has fallen by 3.3% in the past 24 hours.
In summary, South Korea’s upcoming regulatory review of Upbit could have significant implications for the global cryptocurrency market.
