Upbit, one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges in South Korea, has made the decision to temporarily halt transactions involving digital assets worth more than 1 million won ($721). This move comes in response to recent developments at Ten&Ten, a local facilitator of deposits and withdrawals and a virtual asset service provider (VASP).
On April 17th, Upbit announced that it would suspend deposits and withdrawals due to the suspension and termination of Ten&Ten’s Travel Rule Solution service. However, users will still be able to make withdrawals of cryptocurrency until April 22 at 10:00 am Korea Standard Time. This is because Ten&Ten stopped supporting transactions on April 15.
Ten&Ten had facilitated over 1 million won in cryptocurrency deposits and withdrawals for Upbit. There are several other VASPs, such as Borabit, Coredocs, GDAC, Hanbitco, Qbit, Korea Digital Asset Trust, Oasis Exchange, and Prabang, that also allow deposits and withdrawals above 1 million won.
In terms of trading volume, Upbit ranked second in the European Union (EU) market share with 528.57 billion in trading volume, according to a study released on April 10. The crypto exchange Binance claimed the first spot.
Interestingly, the amount of cryptocurrency transactions using the South Korean won surpassed that of the US dollar in the first three months of 2024. According to Kaiko statistics, the total value of transactions in U.S. dollars was approximately $455 billion, while transactions in Korean won on centralized exchanges exceeded $456 billion.
At the start of April, Upbit’s 24-hour trading volume dropped to $3.8 billion, a decrease from its peak in March. On March 5, Upbit recorded its highest trading volume of 2024, reaching approximately $15 billion in daily trades.
In other crypto news, USDC issuer Circle has successfully completed the SOC 2 Type 2 audit.
