XRP, DOGE Fuel Massive Change in South Korean Market Structure: Details

Retail cryptocurrency trading in South Korea has reached new heights, surpassing the country’s stock market by $4 billion in just 24 hours.

The increase was driven by significant trading activity in several altcoins, including Ripple’s XRP, Dogecoin (DOGE), Stellar (XLM), Ethereum Name Service (ENS), and Hedera (HBAR).

South Korea’s Crypto Retail Trade Hits $18 Billion

According to a 10x Research report, South Korea’s crypto retail trade volumes rose to $18 billion on December 2, marking the second highest level of the year.

Ripple’s XRP led the charge with over $6.3 billion in trading volume. DOGE followed with $1.6 billion, while XLM recorded $1.3 billion. Other notable altcoins include ENS at $900 million and HBAR at $800 million.

Markus Thielen, founder of 10x Research, explained that this has resulted in one of the largest divergences on record.

“These high-momentum cryptocurrencies are being driven primarily by retail traders, taking advantage of and reinforcing momentum-driven trends.”

He emphasized that Bitcoin’s funding rate, which is relatively low at only 15% per year, combined with the recent increase in altcoin trading, clearly indicates the beginning of an altcoin season. The expert also advised traders to remain disciplined while taking advantage of these opportunities.

Ripple XRP earnings

XRP has been on a historic rally over the past month, breaking above the $2.80 mark for the first time in nearly seven years. At the time of writing, data from CoinGecko shows the token trading at $2.67, just 21.3% below its all-time high of $3.40 in January 2018.

This price surge has propelled XRP to become the third largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, surpassing Solana (SOL) and Tether (USDT).

South Korea has been a major contributor to this increase, with XRP/KRW trading volume on Upbit, the country’s largest crypto exchange, reaching $3.8 billion on December 2. According to blockchain analytics firm Scopescan, this figure was 11 times the trading volume of Bitcoin. on the platform.

Thielen’s report also highlighted the global shift toward more crypto-friendly policies. Trading activity has shifted since Trump’s election, and with the new US administration expected to support cryptocurrency, he believes that momentum will likely continue.

Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse also recently discussed the impact of Trump’s win, noting that US-based crypto companies have benefited from his victory because of Democrats’ hostile stance on the industry . This has proven true, and XRP has seen impressive gains since then.

Thielen added that South Korea and other countries are also taking a more crypto-friendly approach, which he believes could lead to expanded global opportunities for digital asset trading.

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