Upbit and Bithumb's revenue in the first half of the year both dropped by about 50%, as the South Korean cryptocurrency trading market continues to shrink
According to The Block, South Korea's two major cryptocurrency exchanges, Upbit and Bithumb, released their financial reports for the first half of 2026. Affected by the sluggish cryptocurrency market, both exchanges experienced a significant decline in revenue and profit.Upbit's parent company, Dunamu, reported a revenue of 408.1 billion won (approximately 289 million USD) in the first half of the year, a year-on-year decrease of 49.1%; operating profit was 111.5 billion won, a year-on-year decrease of 79.7%; and net profit was 108.4 billion won, a year-on-year decrease of 74.1%. Bithumb reported a revenue of 168.8 billion won in the first half of the year, a year-on-year decrease of 48.7%; operating profit was 14.9 billion won, a year-on-year decrease of 83.4%, and a net loss of 108.7 billion won, compared to a net profit of 55 billion won in the same period last year.During the reporting period, Bitcoin fell from about 90,000 USD to 60,000 USD, and Ethereum dropped from 3,000 USD to about 1,600 USD. The strong rise in the semiconductor sector of the domestic stock market in South Korea attracted a large amount of capital out of the cryptocurrency market. The total trading volume of the five licensed exchanges in the second quarter decreased by 49.5% year-on-year to 146.43 billion USD.Despite the pressure on performance, both exchanges are still advancing capital operations: Dunamu is conducting a share swap with Naver Financial and plans to go public on NASDAQ within five years after completion; Bithumb plans to improve its internal control system in 2026 and submit a pre-listing application in 2027, aiming to complete its IPO in 2028.