South Korean crypto exchanges raised ad spending 74% despite lower trading volume

Despite a sharp decline in trading volume and weaker financial performance, most major South Korean cryptocurrency exchanges significantly increased their advertising budgets last year, Yonhap Infomax reported. According to data from the Financial Supervisory Service's electronic disclosure system today, the combined advertising and promotion expenses of the top five exchanges—Upbit, Bithumb, Coinone, Korbit, and Gopax—totaled approximately 100 billion won (about $72.5 million), a 74% increase from the previous year's 57.4 billion won ($41.6 million). Four of the five exchanges increased their ad spending, with Korbit being the sole exception. Upbit's operator, Dunamu, saw the most significant rise. Its ad spend jumped 2.5-fold to 61.9 billion won ($44.9 million) last year from 25 billion won ($18.1 million) in 2024, allowing it to reclaim the top spot in ad spending from Bithumb after one year. Bithumb's advertising budget grew from 28.5 billion won ($20.7 million) in 2024 to 36 billion won ($26.1 million) last year.