Major Financial Decline for Upbit and Bithumb in Early 2026

In a striking revelation, major South Korean cryptocurrency exchanges Upbit and Bithumb disclosed substantial revenue declines for the first six months of 2026. Both companies experienced almost a 50% drop in earnings compared to the previous year. However, while Dunamu, Upbit’s parent company, managed to stay profitable, Bithumb could not replicate this success.

Financial Performance Overview

On August 14, 2026, Dunamu and Bithumb released their financial results for the period from January 1 to June 30. The reports highlighted that both firms faced challenging times within the industry. Dunamu witnessed a year-on-year revenue decrease of approximately 49.1%, totaling KRW 408.1 billion (USD 288.9 million). Similarly, Bithumb saw its revenue fall by about 48.7%, reaching KRW 168.8 billion (USD 119.5 million).

Market Conditions Impacting Revenue

This downturn is primarily attributed to overall market conditions characterized by reduced investor activity and lower trading volumes, which directly impacted both platforms’ commission earnings.
Despite these challenges, Dunamu maintained an operating profit of KRW 111.5 billion (USD 78.9 million) alongside a net profit of KRW 108.4 billion (USD 76.7 million), thanks to an operating margin around 27%. On the other hand, Bithumb achieved an operating profit of KRW 14.9 billion (USD10.5 million), but its operational margin dropped to approximately 8.8%.

Operational Adjustments at Bithumb

Bithumb actively cut costs across various sectors; sales incentives were reduced by about 70%, advertising expenses minimized, leading to a total operational expense reduction by around 35.6%. In Q2 alone, their operational margin slightly surpassed Dunamu’s at roughly14%.

Divergent Profitability Outcomes

The stark contrast between these companies lies beyond operating profits—Bithumb reported a net loss of KRW108 .7billion(USD76 .9million). This was heavily influenced by non-operating expenses totallingKRW155 .1billion(USD109 .8million), including digital asset disposals costingKRW73 .4billion(USD52million)and subsequent valuation losses.
Bithumb also recorded expected costs related to regulatory investigations—showing that minor operating profits weren’t enough against such heavy external expenditures.

Dependency on Trading Commissions

A structural issue facing both exchanges is their excessive reliance on trading commissions: nearly97 %ofDunamu’s income came from its trading platform(aboutKR W395 .5billionor USD280million), whileB ithum b’scommission income mirrored this pattern(almost allKR W168 .7billionor USD119 .4million).
Moreover cliente funds droppedbyaround35%acrossbothplatformsreflectingwidertrendsintheSouthKoreancryptocurrencysector.AsreportedbyBitwatchtheoveralltradevolumeacrossfivefullylicensedlocalexchanges—includingUpbit,B ithum b,C oinone,K orbit,andG opax—fell49 .5%duringQ22026comparedto lastyearamountingt USD14643billion
BesidesfinancialdeclinesbothcompaniesfacedadditionalchallengeswithaninvestigationagainstB ithum bCEOL eeJaeWonandUp bitdealingwithanothercyberattackinNovember2025
This comprehensive look into these companies’ struggles offers valuable insights into broader dynamics affectingthecryptosectorinSouthKorea enablinginvestorstomakeinformeddecisionsbasedoncurrentmarketrealities