Upbit, South Korea's largest crypto exchange, reported a weekly trading volume of 8.35 trillion won (~$6.28 billion) for the week ending October 18, 2026, marking a 15.5% decline from the prior week, according to Upbit DataLab.
The decline reflects broader cooling in South Korean crypto trading activity. Other major South Korean platforms experienced a steeper collective drop of nearly 20% in the preceding week, making Upbit's decline relatively moderate by comparison.
XRP Outpaces Bitcoin and USDT
Despite the overall volume decline, XRP emerged as Upbit's most-traded asset for the week, surpassing both Bitcoin and the stablecoin USDT. This follows a long-standing pattern of Korean retail traders favoring XRP on won-denominated trading pairs.
Daily trading volumes on Upbit varied significantly, swinging between approximately $340 million and more than $1.2 billion before settling into the reported weekly total.
Market Implications of Declining Volume
Lower trading volume typically results in thinner order books. When order books thin, larger trades can trigger more pronounced price movements, as individual orders encounter less liquidity to absorb them.
Elevated stablecoin volume alongside declining overall activity suggests traders are rotating capital between risk assets and dollar-pegged tokens as market sentiment cools, while maintaining positions ready to redeploy.
Market participants will monitor whether weekly volumes stabilize near the current 8.35 trillion won level or continue declining, as well as whether XRP maintains its top trading asset ranking in subsequent reporting periods.
