SHIB Trading Volume on Upbit Surges to Match Binance Levels Amid Kimchi Premium

Upbit's SHIB/KRW daily trading volume has surged to $5.29 million, reaching parity with Binance's daily SHIB spot trading volume, according to blockchain media U.Today.

The figures show a significant gap compared to other global exchanges: OKX recorded $26.3 million in SHIB daily trading, while Bybit reported $16.5 million. This indicates that South Korean exchange liquidity for a single asset has reached levels comparable to the world's largest exchange.

This surge coincides with capital movements within Korea. On-chain tracking revealed a large Korean-based investor consolidating 36.1 billion SHIB into a single address before testing transfers to Upbit and CoinOne. Upbit also internally reallocated tens of billions of SHIB between cold and hot wallets for liquidity maintenance.

The resurgence of the Kimchi Premium is behind this trend. South Korea's premium index remained between 0.53% and 1.50% during the first half of September, indicating domestic retail investors continued purchasing digital assets at higher prices than global averages. Strict foreign exchange controls and capital movement restrictions in Korea make it difficult for international arbitrageurs to quickly eliminate this price discrepancy.

Chart comparisons on TradingView show that while Upbit's SHIB/KRW and Binance's SHIB/USDT have followed similar long-term downtrends since 2024 highs, South Korean market charts display more pronounced spikes in trading volume at localized rebound points. Current Upbit SHIB trading appears to be consolidating within previously high-volume zones.

However, SHIB does not hold significant weight in Upbit's overall market. The SHIB/KRW pair ranked 33rd by daily trading volume among listed assets and accounted for just 0.41% of total trading volume. XRP remains the top beneficiary of domestic demand, with a daily trading volume of $376.4 million representing about one-third of Upbit's total trading volume—surpassing Bitcoin's $116.3 million and Ethereum's $88.8 million.

Nonetheless, Upbit matching Binance in SHIB trading volume highlights the concentrated demand from Korean investors. This demonstrates how localized liquidity within Korea's regulatory framework can concentrate into specific assets, potentially causing direct price impacts on global charts when such concentration occurs.