Upbit Smashes Trading Records with $830 Million Hour in South Korea

South Korean crypto exchange Upbit set a new record for trading volume on Saturday, reaching $830 million in just one hour. This surge in activity follows a two-day streak of increased trading, with daily volumes already jumping 273% to $1.84 billion on August 21.

XRP was the leading asset traded on Upbit, accounting for 32.20% of the exchange's 24-hour volume, followed closely by TRUMP at 10.93%. USDT took third place with 8.39%, while Ethereum and Bitcoin rounded out the top five at 5.44% and 5.40%, respectively.

The rapid increase in trading activity is a departure from months of weaker activity in South Korea's crypto market, where investors favored domestic equities as the KOSPI climbed to record highs on AI-driven semiconductor demand. Upbit and Bithumb reported declines in operating revenue of nearly 50% during the first half of 2026.

XRP has been one of the key beneficiaries of this rebound, with its price rising by nearly 50% over the past week. The token's rally is attributed to Ripple's backing of a major XRP Ledger amendment and strong ETF inflows.