XRP led trading volume on Upbit, South Korea's largest cryptocurrency exchange, on October 15 and 16, outpacing both bitcoin and ether in won-denominated trading pairs.
On October 15, XRP/KRW recorded $145.57 million in 24-hour spot volume, accounting for 11.74% of Upbit's total volume. Bitcoin followed at $126.50 million (10.20%), while ether traded at $92.09 million (7.43%). More than seven hours later on October 16, XRP maintained its lead with $108.3 million in volume, compared to $95.3 million for bitcoin and $62.7 million for ether.
The volume spike occurred as XRP's price declined during the period. The token closed at $1.42 on October 11 before sliding throughout the week, reaching an intraday low of $1.29 on October 15 and settling near $1.34. On Upbit, XRP converted to approximately $1.34, compared to roughly $1.336 on Binance, representing a minimal price difference of about 0.3%.
Market Context
South Korea's Financial Intelligence Unit blocked access to 27 offshore cryptocurrency exchanges earlier in the week, including Kucoin and MEXC. This regulatory action has directed more trading activity toward established domestic platforms like Upbit.
The country has also seen increased institutional activity around XRP, including Ripple's custody and tokenization partnership with Meritz Securities announced as part of the company's Korean expansion efforts.
Global Trading Patterns
The concentrated Korean trading activity contrasts with global trends. XRP whales transferred 1.67 billion tokens to Binance earlier in the week, marking a seven-month high for large inflows to that exchange. Meanwhile, U.S.-listed XRP exchange-traded funds experienced net outflows of $104,510 on $24.79 million in trading volume, with existing holders facing unrealized losses.
