Retail trading volume for cryptocurrency assets in South Korea surged to $18 billion in the past 24 hours, outpacing the country’s overall stock market by 22%, according to a new report from 10x Research.
In a December 2 research report, 10x Research founder Markus Thielen said retail cryptocurrency trading volume reached its second-highest level of the year on December 2, with South Korean traders excited about a series of “high momentum” altcoins.
According to the report, Ripple’s XRP token (XRP) recorded a trading volume of more than $6.3 billion in Korea on this day. In second place was Dogecoin (DOGE) with $1.6 billion, Stellar (XLM) with $1.3 billion, Ethereum Name Service (ENS) with $900 million, and Hedera (HBAR) with $800 million.
“These high momentum cryptocurrencies are primarily driven by retail traders, capitalizing on and amplifying momentum-driven trends.”
XRP, ENS, and HBAR, which fall into the category of older tokens colloquially referred to by cryptocurrency natives as “dino coins,” are all up 90%, 73%, respectively, compared to the rest of the cryptocurrency market, and 168% last week.
Thielen also pointed out that Bitcoin’s funding ratio, which is an indicator of criminal activity, is “relatively benign” at just 15% on an annualized basis.
Bitcoin’s funding ratio remains at a “moderate” 15%, while interest in altcoins is soaring. Source: 10x Research
Combined with the recent increase in altcoin trading activity, Thielen said this is a clear sign that the “alt season” is already well underway.
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“We are seeing one of the largest differences ever recorded between South Korea’s retail trading volume, which has increased by up to $18 billion, and the relatively mild Bitcoin funding rate (15% per year).”
“This movement is evident in the altcoin market and everyone needs to have a strategy to catch this trend but still remain disciplined,” he added.
Ripple’s XRP continued its historic rally, surging from $0.50 last month to an annual high of $2.80 on December 2, according to TradingView data.
XRP is up more than 436% in the past month. Source: TradingView
The incredible rise caused the token to surpass both Solana (SOL) and Tether (USDT) in terms of market capitalization, making it the third-largest cryptocurrency asset by total value at the time of issuance.
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