XRP trading in South Korea has reached new heights, exceeding trading volumes in the U.S. The Upbit exchange, the largest in the country, recorded a daily trading volume of $224.22 million, significantly outpacing Coinbase's trading volume of $173.38 million. Meanwhile, Binance remains the global leader in trading volume, with a figure of $306.13 million. The interest in XRP in South Korea has created an unusual phenomenon in terms of pricing and liquidity. The XRP/KRW pair on the Upbit platform accounted for 15.57% of the exchange's total trading activity, allowing the asset to surpass cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and the stablecoin Tether in liquidity. Currently, the token's price is in the range of $1.44–$1.50, but trading volumes are decreasing despite a recent weekly increase of over 14–15%.
The reasons for the growing interest in Ripple and XRP among Korean investors are linked to practical market mechanics. In particular, retail investors in South Korea are completely deprived of the ability to trade leveraged cryptocurrency futures, which forces them to seek volatility only in the spot market. XRP, with its low fees and almost instantaneous transaction speed, has become the ideal tool for quick trading. In the last hour alone, the net spot trading volume on Upbit reached $23.71 million.
Long-term stagnation in traditional markets is also influencing the situation. The KOSPI index in the country is in a narrow range, prompting local investors to reassess their portfolios and move funds into cryptocurrencies. In contrast, in the U.S., institutional funds are focused on regulated assets such as Bitcoin and Ethereum. Accordingly, XRP trading volume on Upbit has already reached $1.71 billion for the week, indicating a significant imbalance of interests and power between Eastern and Western markets. This dynamic clearly shows that, despite Ripple's American roots and prolonged legal battles with the SEC, it is in Seoul that the current price of the asset is being formed.
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