On July 19, 2024, South Korea's "Virtual Asset User Protection Act" officially came into effect, aiming to create a safer environment for virtual asset users and establish a healthy market order. However, the law has had a significant impact on trading volumes on major South Korean crypto exchanges, including Upbit and Bithumb. The main contents of the new law include user deposits and asset protection, insurance and reserve funds, supervision of unfair trading activities, and supervision and sanction powers.

key point
- South Korea's "Virtual Asset User Protection Act" will take effect on July 19, 2024, with the goal of providing a safer environment for the virtual asset market.
- After the law came into effect, trading volumes on major South Korean crypto exchanges such as Upbit and Bithumb dropped significantly.
- Upbit’s trading volume fell 29.4% in 24 hours to $1.5 billion.
- Bithumb’s trading volume fell by 24.7% during the same time period, reaching $425.22 million.
- Coinone suffered the most serious impact, with trading volume plummeting 38.4% to $23.36 million.
- Korbit also took a similar hit to Coinone, with trading volume falling 38.4% to $5.07 million.
- The main contents of the new law include the security of user deposits and assets, insurance and reserve funds, supervision of unfair trading activities and strengthening supervision and sanction powers.