Key Takeaways:
Upbit recorded 1.15 trillion won ($830 million) in trading volume within a single hour on Saturday, as XRP and TRUMP dominated activity on South Korea's largest exchange.
"The South Koreans are back, Upbit volume up 273% and Bithumb up 133%," Scott Melker, host of The Wolf Of All Streets podcast, said on X.
XRP led Upbit's volume distribution with 32.20 percent, contributing $418.9 million, according to Upbit Datalab. TRUMP ranked second at 10.93 percent, followed by USDT at 8.39 percent. Ethereum and Bitcoin rounded out the top five at 5.44 percent and 5.40 percent, respectively. Upbit's total 24-hour volume reached approximately $3.81 billion, while Bithumb recorded $1.954 billion and Coinone $172 million.
The rebound follows months of weaker trading as South Korean investors favored domestic equities, with Upbit and Bithumb both reporting operating revenue declines of nearly 50 percent in the first half of 2026. Whether this two-day streak marks a lasting rotation back into crypto or another short-lived wave, as seen repeatedly this year, remains an open question for South Korean traders.
The surge extended a rebound that began August 21, when Upbit's daily volume jumped 273 percent to roughly $1.84 billion, marking the exchange's highest single-day volume since mid-March. Bithumb recorded a similar increase that day, with volume climbing 132.9 percent to about $934.9 million.
XRP traded near $1.44, up 2.1 percent over 24 hours and nearly 50 percent over the past week, according to CoinGecko data. The token's rally followed Ripple's backing of a major XRP Ledger amendment, alongside strong ETF inflows. That gain remains positive despite a 37 percent flash crash earlier in the day, which briefly pushed XRP as low as $1.36 before it recovered, liquidating hundreds of millions in leveraged positions along the way.
TRUMP held its gains more cleanly. The token traded near $2.34, up 26 percent in 24 hours and more than 66 percent over the past week. Its all-time low of $1.37 came just nine days ago, on August 13. Speculation around a Robinhood Chain launch has fueled renewed interest in the token, alongside a broader recovery across Solana-based meme assets.
Some crypto assets now trade 1.8 percent to 2.4 percent higher on Upbit and Bithumb than on global exchanges like Coinbase and Binance, reviving the Kimchi Premium. The premium reflects renewed retail risk appetite after months of Korean investors favoring domestic equities, as AI and semiconductor stocks pushed the KOSPI to record highs.
Ripple's expanding Korean banking presence adds another layer. CEO Brad Garlinghouse's participation in recent White House talks over U.S. crypto legislation has supported XRP's broader recovery, while institutional demand has strengthened with unusually strong ETF inflows relative to the size of XRP's exchange-traded fund market.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.
