XRP Rules South Korea: One in Four Koreans Trade the Token on Upbit
South Korea's crypto market has a clear favorite—and it's not Bitcoin.
The XRP Takeover
Forget the blue-chip giants for a moment. In one of Asia's most frenetic trading hubs, a single altcoin commands staggering retail attention. The numbers don't lie: a full quarter of the Korean population is actively trading XRP on the nation's premier exchange, Upbit. That's market penetration most traditional finance products can only dream of—usually after decades of expensive marketing and regulatory hand-holding.
Beyond the Hype
This isn't just speculative mania. It points to a deep, localized adoption story. The token's utility for fast, low-cost cross-border settlements resonates in a trade-heavy economy. While regulators elsewhere wring their hands, Korean traders have voted with their wallets, making XRP a cornerstone of portfolio strategy for millions. It's a grassroots financial experiment playing out in real-time, bypassing the usual gatekeepers.
The Ripple Effect
Such concentrated dominance creates its own gravity. It influences liquidity, dictates exchange listing priorities, and even shapes local regulatory discussions. When one in four people in a tech-savvy nation engage with a specific digital asset, it ceases to be a niche bet and becomes a systemic feature of the financial landscape. Watch this space—what happens in Seoul rarely stays in Seoul.
The lesson? Sometimes, the real 'institutional adoption' wears a hoodie and trades from a smartphone, proving that a compelling use-case can be far more persuasive than another dull analyst report from a legacy bank. The market has spoken—loudly.
XRP declines by over 18% in 3 months
In addition to trading, institutional demand for XRP has developed through ETFs. More than $1.5 billion has gone into XRP ETFs so far. For example, even though XRP had dropped 18.11% in the preceding three months, the Bitwise XRP ETF saw $4.51 million come in on a single day in January.
However, despite strong institutional demand, on-chain data show a decline in DEX volume and stablecoin adoption on the XRPL. This has made traders worry that XRP’s growing financial appeal isn’t being matched by real-world use.
Analysts say that new ETF derivatives and clearer rules in the US and UK are likely to change the direction of XRP, but price fluctuations are still a big problem. XRP, on the other hand, has dropped below the $2.2 barrier and is presently trading at $2.02, down 2% in the last 24 hours.
At this time, the broader crypto market is going in the wrong direction. The crypto market has gone down by 1.09% in the last 24 hours, bringing its total value to $3.23 trillion. A similar tendency is also happening with top assets like Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana.
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