Bithumb's Market Share Falls to 24.8% as Gap Widens with Upbit After Zero Fee Promotion Ends

BlockBeats News, February 22. After the "Bitcoin Mistaken Airdrop Incident," the market share of the South Korean cryptocurrency exchange Bithumb continues to be under pressure. Data shows that as of last Friday, Bithumb's trading volume among the top five KRW-based exchanges in South Korea dropped to 24.8%, significantly down from around 30% at the beginning of the year.

Industry data shows that Upbit holds the lead with 58.4% market share, Coinone with 13%, Korbit with 3.5%, and Gopax with 0.3%.

On February 6, during a promotional event, Bithumb was supposed to distribute 2000 KRW (about $1.38) worth of Bitcoin, but instead mistakenly sent 2000 Bitcoins to some users each, totaling an erroneous distribution of about 620,000 BTC, far exceeding its previously disclosed holding of 42,800 BTC, raising questions about its internal control and accounting capabilities.

The day after the incident, its market share plummeted from 31.5% on January 5 to just over 20%. To stabilize the situation, Bithumb implemented a week-long zero-fee trading activity for all cryptocurrencies starting on February 9, temporarily driving trading volume back. On February 10, the market share briefly rebounded to 31.5%. However, after the end of the event on February 16, the share quickly dropped again.

Meanwhile, competitors have significantly benefited. Coinone's share doubled from a month ago, Korbit's trading volume increased about 12.5 times compared to the previous month amid expectations of Mirae Asset Financial Group acquiring 92% of its shares. Upbit is moving forward with a comprehensive stock swap plan with Naver Financial, while Gopax has been acquired by Binance, indicating a potential reshaping of the South Korean exchange landscape.