XRP Dominates Upbit as Weekly Trading Volume Drops 15.5%

Upbit’s weekly trading volume declined 15.5% to 8.35 trillion won, approximately $6.28 billion, for the week ending October 18, 2026, while $XRP successfully retained the top trading spot, outperforming both Bitcoin (BTC) and the stablecoin Tether ($USDT).

Even though the overall weekly decrease indicates a macro change in market participation, this raises concerns whether the post-session trading action is an indication of structural cooling or rather a normal intraday break after large regional trading windows.

Upbit Weekly Trading Volume Drops 15.5% as $XRP Retains Lead

South Korea’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, Upbit, recorded a noticeable slowdown in activity for the week ending yesterday. The total weekly trading dropped by 15.5 to 8.35trillion won or approximately 6.28billion. Even with this market-wide cooldown, $XRP still topped the rank of the most traded cryptocurrency, beating both Bitcoin and $USDT.

Source: Upbit

Meanwhile, this continued leadership by $XRP is notable because it occurred against a backdrop of reduced overall activity. Korean traders have been historically interested in $XRP on KRW pairs and the token once again secured the highest volume percentage despite the overall decline in trading volume. $USDT’s presence in the top three suggests some capital was rotating into or out of stable assets rather than remaining fully deployed in higher-volatility cryptocurrencies.

Why Is Upbit Trading Volume Down This Week?

Upbit’s weekly trading volume is down primarily due to a sharp downturn in domestic macroeconomic factors, highlighted by severe distress in the South Korean stock market and unexpected U.S. inflation data. Cryptocurrency trading in South Korea has been observed to be driven by domestic equity market movements and overall investor sentiment, according to market observers.

At the same time, broader data indicates the slowdown was not isolated to Upbit. The weekly volume of major South Korean platforms decreased by around 19.56% on average, suggesting a broader market-wide trend and not an exchange-specific concern.

According to CoinGecko data around the same time, Upbit’s total coin volume over the past 24 hours was around $552.98 million, a drop of 7.12%, which included 347 coins and 492 pairs, while the total volume of the global market over the past 24 hours was around $46.648 billion. Retail investors are the dominant force of crypto activity in South Korea, hence, periods of price consolidation and lack of fresh momentum cause retail traders to step back from frequent buying and selling.

What Could the Decline Mean for South Korea’s Crypto Market?

As major regional trading windows have now passed, focus will shift to whether the lower volume corresponds to a temporary post-session slowdown, or a more prolonged cool down. In Korea, trading volume can often see higher volumes of activity during Asia-Pacific hours and on major domestic market opens. After such windows close, then, activity can slowly go back to normal levels as liquidity and attention moves elsewhere.

Any short term post-session moderation needs to be separated from the recorded wider weekly moderation. The 15.5% decrease on Upbit and the higher 19.56% decline by major Korean exchanges happened during the entire reporting week, not only during peak sessions.

Generally, lower volume equates with less order book thickness, which can result in heightened price sensitivity for larger orders. At the same time, $XRP’s ability to retain the top ranking suggests that a core group of Korean traders continues to concentrate activity in that asset even when overall participation softens.

Looking ahead, the weekly volume report could be the key indicator of whether the activity will be consolidated or bounce back with more renewed regional sessions, or if it will continue the downward trend. So far, the data indicates that this was a much subdued week for South Korea’s leading exchange, as $XRP continues to be the exchange’s volume leader during the decline.

Related: $XRP Price Analysis: Buyers Absorb Heavy Selling Near $1.28, Eye $1.38 Liquidity

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