Korean Crypto Volume Jumps 82% Amid Stock Market Sell-Off

South Korea's cryptocurrency trading volume surged to $964 million on July 28th, an 82% increase from the previous month's daily average. This jump in crypto volume coincided with a historic sell-off in the country's stock market.

The KOSPI, South Korea's benchmark stock index, dropped over 20% in five days due to a semiconductor sell-off and triggered circuit breakers during the decline. Between July 28th and 29th, the market lost approximately 864 trillion won in value.

Upbit saw its KRW-$USDT trading volume jump by 600%, rising from $20 million to nearly $140 million. Bithumb's trading volume increased 438% from $81 million to $436 million before falling to $144 million.

PredictiveMoney suggested that some investors may have rotated capital into digital assets, but this did not confirm whether equity capital directly entered crypto. Seoul Economic Daily offered an alternative explanation, stating that crypto holders may have sold assets to meet margin obligations elsewhere or moved funds overseas to trade Korean equity derivatives.