Crypto▼ Bearish
Upbit volume hits $830M in one hour during crypto flash crash
Upbit's hourly volume surged to $830M during the Aug. 22 flash crash, with XRP accounting for 32% of activity as liquidations hit $523M.
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South Korean crypto exchange Upbit processed an estimated 1.15 trillion won, roughly $830 million, during one hour of volatile trading on Aug. 22.
The volume spike occurred around 05:00 UTC, when Bitcoin, XRP and other major cryptocurrencies recorded abrupt downward price wicks before recovering part of their losses. The resulting liquidations and rapid repositioning drove spot activity higher across South Korea’s largest exchanges.
Upbit’s rolling 24-hour volume reached approximately $3.818 billion during the volatility, according to figures published on X. Bithumb recorded about $1.954 billion, while Coinone processed approximately $172 million. These numbers were snapshots from rolling 24-hour periods and change continuously as older transactions leave the measurement window. They should not be treated as audited revenue or final daily figures from the exchanges.
The activity extended a recovery that began before the flash crash. The preceding Bitcoin rally lifted Upbit’s daily volume by 273% to approximately $1.84 billion on Aug. 21, based on CoinGecko data. That was Upbit’s highest reported daily volume since mid-March. Bithumb’s activity also climbed 132.9% to approximately $934.9 million during the earlier measurement period.
XRP accounted for 32.20% of Upbit’s measured volume during the surge, according to Upbit Datalab figures cited by market-data publications. TRUMP followed with 10.93%, while USDT represented 8.39%. Ether and Bitcoin accounted for 5.44% and 5.40%, respectively. The distribution shows that the increase was not driven solely by Bitcoin, even though its broader market rally helped restore trading interest.
XRP had risen strongly before the reversal. It gained more than 14% on Aug. 21 and briefly traded above important moving averages. The concentration also illustrates Upbit’s importance to XRP liquidity. Korean won-denominated XRP markets have regularly generated more turnover than the exchange’s Bitcoin pairs during periods of heightened retail activity.