[News Space=Reporter seungwon lee] The global ranking of Upbit, Korea's largest virtual asset exchange, plummeted from 4th to 26th in just two months, accelerating the downturn in the Korean virtual asset market.

According to CoinGecko, a virtual asset information provider, as of 8:00 PM on January 31st, Upbit's 24-hour trading volume was $1.86094 billion (approximately 2.7 trillion won). Bithumb ranked 46th, Korbit 80th, and Coinone and GOPAX fell out of the top 100.

According to coingecko, cryptodnes, coinmarketcap, and coinlaw, as the South Korean virtual asset market is hit by a severe cold wave, the global ranking of Upbit, the largest domestic exchange, is plummeting, accelerating the movement of funds to the stock market.

According to CoinGecko data, Upbit's 24-hour trading volume reached approximately $3.3 billion (approximately KRW 4.5 trillion) as of the end of January 2026, maintaining its third-place ranking among top exchanges on CoinMarketCap. However, the domestic KRW market trading volume plummeted by over 80% year-on-year, clearly demonstrating a contraction in the market.

Trading volume plummets 82%, with the aftermath of "Black Saturday" continuing

The total trading volume of the five major virtual asset exchanges in Korea over the past month (December 6, 2025 - January 5, 2026) amounted to 77.5952 trillion won, a 79% decrease compared to the same period last year (371.4181 trillion won). Upbit alone saw an 82% drop, from 271.6223 trillion won to 48.9858 trillion won. This trend began in earnest after the "Black Saturday" crash in October 2025. In the aftermath of President Trump's tariff remarks on China, $19.1 billion (approximately 27 trillion won) worth of leveraged positions were liquidated within 24 hours, causing the Bitcoin price to fall by more than 30%.

Bitcoin's price fell 31.7% from its peak last year (179.87 million won) to 122.91 million won on Upbit, while Ethereum's price fell 43.1%. According to CoinGecko, Upbit's 24-hour trading volume share was XRP/KRW (15.22%), KNC/KRW (8.28%), and ETH/KRW (7.7%), revealing the vulnerability of the KRW market.

The merger of Dunamu and Naver casts a shadow over the company's rise to fourth place globally

Dunamu, Upbit's parent company, announced a merger with Naver Financial in November 2025, heralding the birth of a "mega-fintech" with a corporate value of 15 trillion won. The merger ratio will be 1 Naver Financial to 3.06 Dunamu, with Dunamu Chairman Song Chi-hyung becoming the largest shareholder, holding a 19% stake in Naver Financial. However, Upbit's decline in rankings has dampened expectations for a Nasdaq listing, increasing the burden on assessing the value of the merged entity.

Stock market rally surpasses Germany in market cap

Meanwhile, the Korean stock market is experiencing its biggest boom ever. According to Bloomberg, as of January 28, 2026, the Korean stock market's market capitalization reached $3.25 trillion, surpassing Germany's ($3.22 trillion) to become the world's 10th largest. The $1.7 trillion increase since January of last year was driven by the 76% surge in the KOSPI and its 23% rise this year. Driven by positive semiconductor performance from Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, this represents a complete reversal from December 2024, when the monthly virtual asset trading volume reached 541 trillion won, surpassing the combined KOSPI and KOSDAQ (300 trillion won).

According to industry analysis, 160 trillion won in Korean virtual assets will flow overseas by 2025, shrinking the domestic market and driving a massive influx of funds into stocks. The "substitute" nature of virtual assets and stocks is strengthening, and a shift in long-term momentum is expected.