XRP Tops Bitcoin and Ether Volumes on South Korean Exchanges
XRP (XRP) surged to the top of trading volumes on South Korea’s two largest cryptocurrency exchanges on May 13, outpacing both Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) on Upbit and ranking near the front on Bithumb. The token traded near $1.45 as retail traders targeted the $1.50 resistance level.
South Korea’s cryptocurrency market is among the most active retail venues globally, making a volume-dominance shift there a meaningful signal of speculative positioning.
What Happened in Korea
XRP’s volume lead on Upbit represented a sharp rotation of Korean retail interest away from the two largest assets by market capitalization. According to a CoinDesk report published May 13, XRP led Upbit’s leaderboard and ranked near the top on Bithumb.
The $1.45 price level put traders roughly 3.4% below the $1.50 level that several in the market treat as short-term resistance. South Korean exchanges routinely see outsized volume in tokens with strong retail narratives, and XRP has carried one of the most durable retail followings in the sector since 2017.
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Background
XRP’s relationship with South Korean traders stretches back to the 2017-2018 cycle, when the token saw some of its largest volume surges on Korean won trading pairs.
The asset is the native token of Ripple, the San Francisco-based company that operates a cross-border payments network used by financial institutions. Ripple spent years in litigation with the U.S.
Securities and Exchange Commission over whether XRP constituted an unregistered securities offering. A partial court victory in 2023 gave the token clearer footing in the U.S. market.
The SEC dropped its remaining claims in early 2025, removing the legal overhang that had suppressed institutional engagement with XRP for several years. Since then, the token has attracted renewed attention from both retail participants and ETF issuers.
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Retail Clients for U.S. retail clients, a signal of deepening mainstream access to digital assets.
Outlook
The $1.50 price level is the nearest meaningful resistance traders have identified. A sustained break above that figure could open a path toward the $2.00 range that XRP briefly touched in late 2024.
Korean volume dominance does not guarantee a sustained price move, as the market has historically seen rapid rotations in and out of the token. What to watch: whether Upbit volume holds above Bitcoin’s level through the week and whether U.S. spot ETF flows for XRP-linked products reflect the same directional bias seen in Korean retail data.
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