Bithumb Seeks $201M in Lost Crypto; Upbit Dominates Korean Youth
South Korea’s Bithumb is launching its third annual dormant asset restoration marketing campaign, revealing that unclaimed cryptocurrency holdings on its platform have fallen to 291.6 billion received ($201 million)—a 34% lower from final yr’s 443.5 billion received ($306 million).
The decline follows a earlier yr’s marketing campaign in which roughly 36,000 clients reclaimed a mixed 70.6 billion received ($49 million) in forgotten property. Market fluctuations additionally contributed to the year-over-year change.
The Largest Was Single Account With $2.8M Forgotten Asset
This year’s campaign targets 2.57 million accounts which have proven no login or buying and selling exercise for not less than one yr. Among them, the biggest single dormant holding stands at 4.1 billion received ($2.8 million), whereas the best Bitcoin return fee recorded reaches an eye-popping 61,106%.
Perhaps most hanging is the longest unclaimed account, which has remained untouched for 4,380 days—practically 12 years. This timeline traces again to Bithumb’s founding in 2013, suggesting among the change’s earliest customers have but to examine their holdings.
“Many clients stay unaware of the digital property they maintain or have left them unattended for prolonged intervals,” mentioned Moon Sun-il, Bithumb’s Head of Service. “We hope this marketing campaign helps clients rediscover and make the most of their worthwhile property.”
Bithumb first launched its dormant asset initiative in 2023, when unclaimed holdings totaled 267.3 billion received ($184 million). The determine surged in 2024 amid the crypto market rally, solely to say no this yr.
Bithumb Holds Firm as Korea’s Second-Largest Exchange
Bithumb maintains its place as South Korea’s second-largest cryptocurrency change by a major margin. According to WiseApp Retail’s July 2025 survey, Bithumb recorded 2.42 million month-to-month lively customers (MAU), trailing solely Upbit’s 4.53 million. The hole between Bithumb and third-place Coinone (600,000 MAU) is greater than fourfold, underscoring Bithumb’s strong grip on the runner-up spot.
WiseApp Retail Rankings (July 2025)
| Metric | Upbit | Bithumb | Bithumb/Upbit |
|---|---|---|---|
| MAU | 4.53M | 2.42M | 53% |
| Total utilization time | 12.52M hours | 5.41M hours | 43% |
| Total app launches | 1.62B | 550M | 34% |
CoinGecko’s Trust Score rankings inform the same story: Bithumb scores 7/10, whereas Upbit scores 8/10. Bithumb’s 24-hour buying and selling quantity stands at $383 million, roughly 45% of Upbit’s $844 million.
Upbit Dominates With 44% of Korea’s Young Adults
Dunamu, operator of Upbit, launched its 2025 user statistics on Thursday, revealing 13.26 million cumulative members as of December 22. The platform added practically 1.1 million new customers all through 2025.
For context, the Financial Services Commission’s first-half 2025 industry survey reported 10.77 million tradeable customers throughout all registered exchanges mixed. While the figures use totally different methodologies, they illustrate Upbit’s market dominance.
Age Distribution: Upbit vs Industry
| Age Group | Upbit | Industry (FSC) |
|---|---|---|
| Under 30 | 23.2% | 18.9% |
| 30s | 28.7% | 27.9% |
| 40s | 24.1% | 27.1% |
| 50s | 16.9% | 18.8% |
| 60+ | 7.1% | 7.3% |
Both datasets verify customers in their 30s as the biggest demographic. Notably, 5.48 million Upbit customers are in their 20s and 30s—representing 44% of South Korea’s complete inhabitants in that age bracket (12.37 million), in keeping with authorities demographic information cited by Upbit.
Broadening Investor Base
Female participation is rising quickly. While ladies account for 34.6% of Upbit’s complete consumer base, they represented 43.1% of latest sign-ups in 2025, narrowing the gender hole to simply 13 proportion factors. Users in their 50s additionally comprised 20% of latest registrations, signaling that digital asset funding is increasing throughout generations.
Trading Trends
Ripple (XRP) was probably the most traded asset on Upbit in 2025, adopted by Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH). This aligns with the FSC survey, which reveals XRP because the second-largest asset by home market capitalization after Bitcoin.
The platform’s busiest buying and selling day was January 9, when each day quantity hit 20.86 trillion received ($14.4 billion)—greater than triple the business’s common each day quantity of 6.4 trillion received reported in the FSC survey.
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