South Korea Embraces XRP, Making It Second Most Held Asset on Bithumb

XRP is now the second most widely held cryptocurrency among users on the prominent Korean exchange Bithumb, only behind Bitcoin (BTC).

Bulmat, a data analyst at South Korean-based consulting firm DeSpread, disclosed the metric with a spreadsheet shared on X. Data from the spreadsheet shows that Bitcoin is the most widely held crypto asset, with up to 1.45 million Bithumb users holding the token.

Meanwhile, XRP is a close second, boasting a whopping 1.38 million holders from Bithumb. Interestingly, this indicates that Bitcoin only has 70,000 more holders than XRP, which has continued to command massive daily trade volumes on Korean exchanges such as Bithumb.

빗썸에서 가장 많은 사람들이 보유하고 있는 코인은!?

1위 비트코인 $BTC
2위 리플 $XRP
3위 이더리움 $ETH

매일 리또속을 외치지만 매수버튼으로 손이 가는 츤데레 한국인들

이오스, 이캐시, 큐텀은 지난 불장의 잔재같아 보이네요… pic.twitter.com/YxkWe3SaoZ

— Bulmat 🔜 ETHDenver (@itsbulmat) February 20, 2024

XRP towers over other rival assets, including Ethereum (ETH), the second-largest cryptocurrency by market cap. Despite recently pushing above the $3,000 mark on the latest market resurgence, Ethereum does not have up to 1 million holders on Bithumb.

Data reveals that the number of Bithumb users holding ETH currently stands at 742,000, making ETH the third most widely held token. Other notable assets among the top 15 coins include Bitcoin Cash (BCH), with 506,000 holders; Tron (TRX), boasting 439,000 holders; and Cardano (ADA), which commands 198,000 holders.

Bithumb remains the second-largest crypto exchange in Korea by trade volume, trailing only Upbit. The interest in XRP among its users reflects the impressive demand from the broader South Korean investor community. Per Kaiko, Bithumb recently saw its dominance spike to an ATH of 72% amid an influx of users.

✅ #Bithumb market share of volume relative to its main rival #Upbit briefly hit an all-time high of 72% in early February amid surging BTC trading.🚀 pic.twitter.com/ghZZ7WLzvs

— Kaiko (@KaikoData) February 16, 2024

However, despite being the second most widely held asset, XRP is only seventh among the tokens with the largest trade volume on Bithumb over the past 24 hours. The asset currently sees a volume of $43.2 million, representing 3.54% of all volume on the exchange. 

XRP a Favorite Among Koreans

XRP’s ability to command up to 1.38 million holders on Bithumb underscores the increasing interest in the token, especially among South Korean investors, who have recently shown a particular affinity for the crypto asset. 

Last August, a study found that XRP was the preferred asset among South Korean investors in their 20s, with most youths opting for the token over BTC and ETH. Moreover, Kaiko revealed in April 2023 that XRP was the top-traded altcoin in Korea, commanding over three times the volume of its closest rival. 

As The Crypto Basic reported, XRP also surpassed Bitcoin in trade volume on Korea’s top exchanges last March. Interestingly, a Messari report from three years ago showed that the interest in XRP is not a recent development, as Korean investors showed a preference for XRP over ETH in 2021.