South Korea crypto trading rises after KOSPI plunge

Trading volume between the Korean won and Tether on Upbit neared 200 billion won (about 140 million USDT) on July 29, up from roughly 20 million USDT on July 25, an increase of about 600%.

The surge came after the KOSPI fell nearly 18 percent over several days, driven by a sell-off in semiconductor stocks. Upbit recorded an earlier volume spike on July 14 following a roughly 10 percent one-day drop in the index.

Local analysts reported that some investors shifted capital out of domestic equities into digital assets and derivatives. Cho Yoon-sung, a senior researcher at Tiger Research, suggested demand rose for moving funds to overseas exchanges or personal wallets to trade perpetual stock futures.

Market structure in South Korea includes sizable retail participation and widespread access to perpetual futures and stock-linked products on overseas crypto platforms. Those conditions can support rapid increases in crypto volumes during sharp equity moves.

Bitwise, a crypto asset manager, noted Bitcoin’s relative strength through July despite tighter macro conditions. Andre Dragosch, Bitwise’s head of European research, observed that Bitcoin had been essentially flat since semiconductor stocks peaked in late June. Bitwise described Bitcoin’s performance as outperformance versus several large U.S. mega-cap stocks.

Available market data do not indicate whether the recent volume surge on Upbit was driven mainly by spot purchases, derivative positions, or transfers to wallets and foreign exchanges. Upbit’s trading figures and analyst commentary point to a mix of protective trades and leveraged positions.

The episode illustrates how capital can move between Korean equities and crypto in response to sudden price swings. Regulators and market participants continue to monitor flows given the use of leverage and cross-border transfers.