SBS reports that the top five cryptocurrency exchanges in South Korea paid out approximately KRW 16 billion in deposit interest during the third quarter of 2022. These exchanges include Upbit, Bithumb, Coinone, Korbit, and Gopax. According to figures received by Rep. Park Sang-hyeok's office from the Financial Supervisory Service at the end of last month, Upbit had the highest KRW deposit balance among the top five exchanges, at KRW 3.25 trillion. Bithumb came in second with KRW 915.5 billion, and Coinone came in third with KRW 126.2 billion. Based on these deposit balances, the top five exchanges paid out a combined KRW 16 billion in interest to their users during the third quarter. Upbit accounted for the majority of this interest, paying out KRW 12.1 billion. Bithumb paid out KRW 2.5 billion, Coinone paid out KRW 1.1 billion, Korbit paid out KRW 300 million, and Gopax paid out KRW 100 million. The fact that these exchanges are paying out such high interest rates is likely due to the fact that they are facing increasing competition from traditional banks. In recent years, traditional banks have been offering higher interest rates on deposits in an effort to attract customers. As a result, cryptocurrency exchanges have had to follow suit in order to remain competitive.