Crypto Exchanges Slash Fees to Zero in Desperate Bid for Survival
The South Korean cryptocurrency market is witnessing a fee-cutting battle among exchanges, with smaller players fighting for survival. DigitalX, formerly Korbit, announced it would waive trading fees on all won-market pairs for one year starting August 24. Coinone fired back just two days later, cutting its trading fee rate to zero percent across all pairs starting August 26.
The market's top two exchanges, Upbit and Bithumb, have also rolled out partial fee waivers. Upbit ran a zero-fee promotion on select stablecoins listed on its won market, while Bithumb waived open-API trading fees across all won-market pairs.
Larger financial firms are now among the investors of these exchanges, but regulatory barriers block any immediate synergies. Trading volume across the virtual asset market has declined, and a string of industry incidents has shaken public trust, dragging down earnings across the board, but the blow falls hardest on smaller exchanges with weaker customer bases and thinner capital cushions.