South Korea's Crypto Trading Volumes Soar Amid Stock Market Plunge

Crypto trading volumes in South Korea surged this week as the country's stock market plummeted by nearly 18%.

Data from Upbit, one of the largest exchanges in South Korea, shows that trading volume for KRW/USDT neared 200 billion won (140 million USDT) on July 29, up from just 20 million USDT on July 25, a 600% increase.

The sharp decline in the stock market, led by a sell-off in chip-maker stocks, may have caused investors to seek protection and capitalize on volatility by buying stock-linked products overseas, according to analysis referenced by Seoul Economic Daily.

Cho Yoon-sung, a senior researcher at Tiger Research, suggested that demand increased for moving funds to overseas exchanges or personal wallets to trade perpetual stock futures.