Korean Retail Traders Pour Back into Crypto with Record-Breaking $1.84 Billion in Transactions

South Korea's largest cryptocurrency exchange, Upbit, has seen its busiest trading day in five months, with over $1.84 billion in transactions processed over the past 24 hours, a 273% jump from previous days.

This surge follows a prolonged stretch of weak participation in South Korea's crypto market, where digital asset prices struggled while the KOSPI climbed to record levels, fueled by investor enthusiasm for semiconductor stocks.

The rebound was triggered by Bitcoin's sharp advance, which gained around 8.3% over 24 hours to trade above $78,000, and the broader crypto market rose approximately 7.2%, following the U.S. Treasury Department's announcement of increased liquidity-support buybacks.

Min Jung, associate researcher at Presto Research, noted that while it is too early to call this a sustained rotation from equities into crypto, Korean retail behavior suggests more capital could follow if the rally holds.

XRP led activity on both Upbit and Bithumb, with roughly $418.9 million in trades on Upbit and around $294.6 million on Bithumb, surpassing Bitcoin, USDT, and Ether.