Korean Market Sees Sudden Surge in XRP Trading Volume on Upbit

Korean cryptocurrency market saw a sudden surge in XRP trading volume on Upbit exchange, surpassing Bitcoin and Ethereum combined. The total trading volume of XRP-won on Aug. 22 was $319 million, accounting for 21.86 percent of all activity on the platform. This trend showed how quickly domestic liquidity can concentrate on a single altcoin.

The move coincided with a rotation of funds in the Korean market that began late last week. Retail investors are taking profits in technology stocks and moving funds back to cryptocurrency exchanges, described as a 'great rotation' by blockchain media outlet U.Today. Upbit's daily trading volume jumped 250 percent to $1.8 billion on Aug. 22.

XRP drew more than $418 million in retail inflows at its peak, breaking above a long-term downtrend on TradingView charts and settling around $1.51, or about 2,073 dollars in won terms. Ripple is dubbed the 'North Star' token by some, effectively serving as a guide in the Korean market.

The gap between domestic and global prices was not large, with the kimchi premium at around minus 0.5 percent. The interpretation emerged that large Korean trading volume is acting as a key driver pushing up XRP's global price. However, it remains unclear whether this uptrend will persist, given domestic exchanges have seen profits shrink to nearly half after capital outflows earlier this year.