As a seasoned researcher with a keen interest in the evolving world of financial technology, I find myself intrigued by the developments surrounding Upbit and K-Bank in South Korea. The allegations of monopolistic tendencies and potential conflicts of interest between these two entities are certainly concerning.
As a researcher, I’m delving into the issue surrounding the market influence wielded by South Korea’s foremost cryptocurrency exchange, Upbit. I’ve committed to thoroughly examining this matter to ensure a fair and balanced market environment.
During a gathering in the country’s parliament, Representative Lee Kang-il brought up concerns regarding Upbit’s market influence and its strong alliance with domestic bank K-Bank.
As a cryptocurrency investor, I’ve come to understand that a considerable amount of my funds held on the platform Upbit are safeguarded by an online banking institution, as per a recent report published on October 10th in local news outlets.
Monopoly Concerns
“I am aware of the issue of Upbit’s monopolistic system,” Lee said before adding [translation]:
Following its strategic alliance with K-Bank, a single company named Upbit began dominating the market.
Later on, he brought up the topic that a large amount of K Bank’s deposits are being handled by Upbit, as K Bank is planning for an Initial Public Offering (IPO) in the near future.
A legislator stated that approximately one fifth of K-Bank’s total deposits worth around 22 trillion Korean Won (around $16.3 billion) are tied to Upbit, and furthermore, he warned that if transactions with Upbit were halted, a bank run on K-Bank could ensue. Additionally, he raised concerns about the bank’s decision to offer 2.1% interest rates for Upbit customer deposits, given its profit margin is less than 1%.
He also mentioned that the connection between Upbit and K-Bank goes against the idea of keeping finance and business industries separate.
In response, the chairman of FSC (Financial Services Commission), Mr. Kim, asserted that the Initial Public Offering (IPO) evaluation of K-Bank has undergone a detailed examination. Moreover, given our dedicated Virtual Asset Committee, we will conduct an all-encompassing review regarding the situation with Upbit.
This week, the South Korean Ministry of Strategy and Finance has revealed plans to tighten control over stablecoins by conducting a thorough review of regulatory strategies.
Upbit Huge in South Korea
As reported by CoinGecko, the daily trading volume for Upbit, a centralized exchange founded in 2017, stands at approximately $1.2 billion. About 10% of this volume is attributed to the BTC/KRW pair, while other altcoins like Chilliz (CHZ) and Sui (SUI) are also frequently traded among Korean crypto traders.
During the height of the 2024 market peak in mid-March, trading activity on the exchange skyrocketed to an impressive $15 billion. Notably, Binance, the most prominent exchange globally, typically handles a daily currency volume of approximately $12.5 billion.
Previously this year, it was shared through CryptoPotato that Upbit accounted for approximately 80% of all cryptocurrency trades in South Korea and ranked fifth worldwide. Following Upbit, Bithumb serves as the country’s second-largest digital currency exchange with a daily trading volume of around $700 million.
Starting October 1st, Upbit notified users that their data will now be stored on Amazon Web Services (AWS) servers based in the U.S., according to an update made to its privacy policy in late September.
Read More
- W PREDICTION. W cryptocurrency
- AAVE PREDICTION. AAVE cryptocurrency
- PENDLE PREDICTION. PENDLE cryptocurrency
- ZETA PREDICTION. ZETA cryptocurrency
- AEVO PREDICTION. AEVO cryptocurrency
- FutureNet Co-Founder Roman Ziemian Arrested in Montenegro Over $21M Theft
- USD NZD PREDICTION
- EUR INR PREDICTION
- GBP CAD PREDICTION
- BTC PREDICTION. BTC cryptocurrency
2024-10-10 09:36