South Korea’s Crypto Retail Trading Volume Reaches $18 Billion in 24 Hours
The South Korean crypto market is experiencing a surge, with retail trading volume reaching $18 billion in the last 24 hours, outperforming the stock market by 22%. According to a report from 10x Research founder Markus Thielen on December 2, this marks the second-highest retail crypto trading volume of the year, driven by interest in "high momentum" altcoins.
Ripple's XRP led trading activity with over $6.3 billion in daily volume, followed by Dogecoin at $1.6 billion and Stellar at $1.3 billion. Ethereum Name Service recorded $900 million, while Hedera reached $800 million in trading volume. Thielen noted:
“These high-momentum cryptocurrencies are being driven predominantly by retail traders, capitalizing on and reinforcing momentum-driven trends.”
XRP has rallied to $2.73, achieving over 90% weekly gains and more than 440% monthly gains, marking its largest rally since 2017. Similarly, Hedera's HBAR saw a 153% increase over the week, rising 45% in the last 24 hours to $0.3477, with a market cap exceeding $13.28 billion. HBAR's trading volume surged by 94%, surpassing $7.11 billion, influenced by Canary Capital's filing for a spot HBAR ETF.
Is the Altseason Underway?
Thielen noted Bitcoin's funding rate remains "relatively mild" at an annualized 15%, indicating an ongoing "altseason." He stated:
“We are seeing one of the largest divergences recorded between a relatively mild Bitcoin funding rate at 15% annualized while retail trading volumes in Korea have ramped up to $18bn. The action is clearly in the altcoin market and everybody needs to have a strategy to catch these waves but still remain disciplined.”
Additionally, Bitcoin long-term holders are decreasing their holdings, now collectively owning 12.45 million BTC, the lowest since July 2022. This decline is less severe compared to previous cycles, with a 9.8% drop this cycle versus 15% in 2021 and 26% in 2017.