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| The headquarters of Upbit, located in southern Seoul / Yonhap |
By Anna J. Park
Upbit's top-rank position among local cryptocurrency exchanges is expected to continue, as it surpasses other coin exchanges in terms of transactions and number of customers by a wide margin.
According to the latest figures received by conservative opposition People Power Party (PPP) Rep. Yoon Doo-hyun from four major cryptocurrency exchanges ― Upbit, Bithumb, Coinone and Korbit ― the number of newly registered customers at Upbit from April to July stood at 1.77 million, far exceeding those of Bithumb at 450,175, Coinone at 171,446 and Korbit 44,864.
The volume of deposits held by the exchanges also shows Upbit's invincible top lead among local coin exchanges. Upbit's customer deposits as the end of last month stood at 5.26 trillion won ($4.5 billion), more than five times that of Bithumb at 1.34 trillion won. The figure was more than 21 times of that of Coinone and 77 times that of Korbit at the end of July. Even the aggregate number of the three other exchanges only accounted for about a quarter of Upbit's deposit volume.
The average number of users at the end of July also showed Upbit's secure first position, with 4.7 million users, which is 3.6 times that of Bithumb, 8.6 times that of Coinone and more than 46 times that of Korbit.
With such a strong lead, Upbit's corporate value, internally calculated by its second-largest shareholder Kakao, which holds a stake of around 20 percent, has risen by 100 times in six years.
Upbit's book value ― which is a far more conservatively estimated value than the corporate price and set for the over-the-counter market ― is assessed at around 356 billion won as of the end of the second quarter, which is more than 108 times the 3.3 billion won first invested by Kakao back in 2015. The book value has also risen nearly five times, compared to the end of the second quarter last year.
On the over-the-counter market, private shares of Dunamu, the operator of Upbit, are traded at a corporate value of over 10 trillion won, reflecting expectations for the future.
Upbit's position as the top coin exchange in the country is expected to be maintained, as it recently became the first exchange to complete the business registration obligation required by the financial authorities before the late September deadline.
