Recent industry data shows that South Korean crypto exchange Bithumb is facing continued pressure on its market share. As of last Friday, the platform's trading volume share among South Korea's five major KRW-based exchanges has dropped to 24.8%, significantly down from around 30% at the start of the year.

Shifting Market Dynamics

Within the current South Korean crypto landscape, Upbit maintains a dominant position with a 58.4% share, followed by Coinone at 13%, Korbit at 3.5%, and Gopax at just 0.3%.

  • Upbit is advancing a full share swap plan with Naver Financial, strengthening its industry leadership.
  • Coinone has doubled its market share over the past month.
  • Korbit has seen a surge in trading volume, up around 12.5 times from last month, driven by Mirae Asset Financial Group's acquisition of a 92% stake.
  • Gopax has been acquired by a global exchange, potentially reshaping competitive dynamics.

Bitcoin Distribution Error Sparks Trust Concerns

On February 6, a promotional campaign intended to distribute 2,000 KRW (approximately $1.38) worth of Bitcoin to users went awry. Due to a system error, some users mistakenly received 2,000 BTC each, resulting in a total erroneous issuance of around 620,000 BTC—far exceeding the platform's disclosed holdings of 42,800 BTC. This incident immediately triggered doubts about the exchange's internal controls and financial management.

The very next day, Bithumb's market share plummeted from 31.5% on January 5 to just over 20%. To regain user trust, the exchange launched a one-week zero-fee trading campaign starting February 9, which temporarily boosted trading volume and helped its market share rebound to 31.5% on February 10.

Short-Term Incentives Fail to Reverse Long-Term Trends

However, once the zero-fee campaign ended on February 16, its market share quickly declined again, indicating a lack of lasting user appeal. This incident not only exposed flaws in its risk management systems but also highlighted the platform's struggle to retain users in an increasingly competitive crypto market.