South Korea’s largest crypto change, Upbit, is aggressively increasing listings, including practically one new token per day in September. Analysts say the technique goals to guard its market dominance within the nation, as rival Bithumb narrows the hole to inside 5%.
Amid this race, delistings have additionally surged to report highs, elevating issues over investor safety.
Upbit Ramps Up Listings to Defend Market Lead
On Wednesday, Upbit listed Linea (LINEA). Not too long ago, Upbit additionally added Pump.Enjoyable (PUMP), Holoworld AI (HOLO), OpenLedger (OPEN), Worldcoin (WLD), Flock.io (FLOCK), and RedStone (RED). That introduced seven new tokens in simply 11 days—already greater than its complete listings in August.
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Upbit had historically adopted a conservative itemizing strategy in contrast with rivals. In accordance with an area media report, nevertheless, the change has shifted course after Bithumb started closing the market share hole.
The highest 10 most-traded cash on the Upbit on September 11 / Supply: CoinGecko
For instance, WLD, beforehand traded on Bithumb, Coinone, and Korbit, greater than doubled in a single week, pushing Bithumb’s market share to 46% on Tuesday. Upbit rapidly countered, asserting a WLD itemizing at 7 pm and launching buying and selling two hours later.
Information from the Digital Asset eXchange Alliance (DAXA), an affiliation of Korean crypto exchanges, exhibits that as of late August, Bithumb listed 406 tokens—roughly 1.5 instances greater than Upbit’s 260. CoinGecko figures place Bithumb’s market share at 46%, in contrast with Upbit’s 50.6%.
The 2 exchanges have lengthy dominated Korea’s crypto market. Bithumb briefly overtook Upbit in late 2023 by means of a zero-fee buying and selling marketing campaign however rapidly misplaced the lead. Analysts observe the present problem is extra important, as Bithumb’s beneficial properties got here with out particular promotions.
From January to August 2025, common each day buying and selling quantity reached $3.2 billion (₩4.4 trillion) on Upbit and $1.2 billion (₩1.6 trillion) on Bithumb, totaling $4.4 billion (₩6 trillion). That determine practically doubled from $2.2 billion (₩2.9 trillion) a yr earlier.
Itemizing Race Sparks Investor Safety Fears
Trade specialists warn that the extraordinary competitors for itemizing tokens may weaken due diligence. Accelerated critiques threat approving belongings that fail to satisfy necessities. Within the second half of 2025 alone, Korea’s 5 largest won-based exchanges delisted 25 tokens, a lot of which had been lower than a yr outdated.
Upbit has stepped up delistings alongside listings. It eliminated 10 tokens in 2023, 3 in 2024, and 11 within the first eight months of 2025, its highest complete. Bithumb delisted 26, 19, and 20 tokens throughout the identical durations, sustaining about 20 removals yearly. Upbit’s delisting ratio jumped from 8% to 24%, whereas Bithumb’s eased from 24% to 21%.
An business official, who requested anonymity, mentioned, “With South Korea’s market limited to spot trading, listing expansion has become the only competitive tool. Stricter regulations ironically fuel fiercer listing battles, eroding investor protection.” He signifies that South Korean laws prohibit exchanges to identify buying and selling solely, prohibiting derivatives and different merchandise.
