Upbit, one of South Korea’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges, has announced that it will temporarily halt deposits and withdrawals of digital assets worth more than 1 million won (approximately $721). This decision has been made due to changes made by virtual asset service provider Ten&Ten, one of the providers of deposit and withdrawal services.
In a blog post on April 17, Upbit explained that the suspension is a result of the termination of Ten&Ten’s Travel Rule Solution service. Ten&Ten had previously assisted Upbit in offering crypto deposits and withdrawals exceeding 1 million won. The suspension of Ten&Ten’s exchange services began on April 15, and users will be able to withdraw their crypto assets until April 22 at 10:00 KST.
Other virtual asset service providers that allow deposits and withdrawals exceeding 1 million won include Bblock, Gopax, FlatExchange, Aprobit, Prabang, Borabit, BTX, Flybit, Foblegate, Bithumb, Coinone, Korbit, Coredocs, GDAC, Hanbitco, Qbit, Korea Digital Asset Trust (KDAC), and Oasis Exchange.
According to a report released by the European Union (EU) on April 10, Upbit ranks second in market share after Binance, with an approximate trading volume of 528.57 billion. In the first quarter of 2024, the South Korean won (KRW) surpassed the U.S. dollar in terms of crypto trading volume. Data from Kaiko shows that KRW transactions on centralized exchanges totaled over $456 billion, slightly surpassing the cumulative volume of USD, which amounted to around $455 billion.
South Korean financial authorities are currently planning to release new guidelines by the end of April or early May, which will impose stricter regulations on token listings on centralized crypto exchanges. They also intend to prohibit the listing of digital assets involved in hacking incidents on domestic exchanges unless the root cause has been thoroughly investigated.
Upbit’s 24-hour trading volume experienced a decline to $3.8 billion at the beginning of April, following a peak in March. On March 5, the exchange recorded a daily trading volume of nearly $15 billion, the highest this year. This surge in trading volume can be attributed to Bitcoin reaching a new all-time high of $69,200 on the same day.
In other news, Hong Kong’s financial regulator has reportedly approved the listing of three spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. These ETFs are expected to be available for trading in approximately two weeks. Additionally, the price of Ethereum (ETH) is approaching three-year lows compared to Bitcoin. The introduction of an Ethereum ETF may help alleviate the downward trend.