Why does Upbit announce listings almost every day?

South Korea's largest cryptocurrency exchange, Upbit, is aggressively expanding its listings, adding nearly one new Token every day in September. Analysts say the strategy is aimed at protecting its market dominance in the country, as rival Bithumb narrows the gap to less than 5%.

Amid this race, the number of Delisting Token also increased to a record high, raising concerns about investor protection.

Upbit Increases Listings to Protect Market Leadership

On Wednesday, Upbit listed Linea (LINEA). Upbit also recently added Pump.Fun (PUMP), Holoworld AI (Holo), OpenLedger (OPEN), Worldcoin (WLD), Flock.io (FLOCK), and RedStone (RED). This brings the total to seven new Token in just 11 days—more than their total listings in August.

Upbit has traditionally pursued a more conservative approach to listings than its rivals. According to a local media report , the exchange changed course after Bithumb began to close the market share gap.

For example, WLD, previously traded on Bithumb , Coinone, and Korbit, more than doubled in a week, pushing Bithumb 's market share to 46% on Tuesday. Upbit quickly responded, announcing the listing of WLD at 7 p.m. and starting trading two hours later.

Data from the Digital Asset Exchange Association (DAXA), an association of South Korean cryptocurrency exchanges, shows that as of the end of August, Bithumb had listed 406 Token —about 1.5 times that of Upbit ’s 260 Token . Figures from CoinGecko show Bithumb ’s market share at 46%, compared to Upbit’s 50.6%.

The two exchanges have long dominated the South Korean cryptocurrency market. Bithumb briefly overtook Upbit in late 2023 through a zero-fee trading campaign but quickly lost the lead. Analysts note that the current challenge is more significant, as Bithumb achieved success without special promotions.

From January to August 2025, the Medium daily volume reached $3.2 billion (₩4.4 trillion) on Upbit and $1.2 billion (₩1.6 trillion) on Bithumb, for a total of $4.4 billion (₩6 trillion). This is nearly double the $2.2 billion (₩2.9 trillion) a year earlier.

Listing race raises investor protection concerns

Industry experts warn that the fierce competition to list Token could undermine due diligence. The rapid XEM risks approving assets that do not meet requirements. In the second half of 2025 alone, South Korea’s five largest exchanges Delisting 25 Token, many of which were less than a year old.

Upbit has been increasing Delisting in parallel with its listings. They removed 10 Token in 2023, 3 in 2024, and 11 in the first eight months of 2025, the highest total. Bithumb Delisting 26, 19, and 20 Token in the same period, maintaining around 20 delistings per year. Upbit 's Delisting rate increased from 8% to 24%, while Bithumb 's decreased from 24% to 21%.

“With the Korean market limited to spot trading, expanding listings has become the only competitive tool,” said an industry official, who requested anonymity. “Stricter regulations have ironically fueled more intense listing wars, eroding investor protection.” He pointed out that Korean regulations limit exchanges to spot trading and prohibit Derivative and other products.