- Upbit parent company Dunamu reported a 49% drop in first-half operating revenue to $289 million.
- Bithumb recorded an 83% decline in operating profit to $11 million, alongside a net loss of $77 million.
- South Korea has banned Polymarket, ruling its prediction market operations constitute illegal gambling.
South Korean crypto exchanges are reporting severe revenue losses in the first half of the year, as a wider downturn in global digital asset markets takes its toll. Bithumb recorded an operating profit of 14.9 billion won ($11 million), down 83% from last year’s 90.1 billion won ($64 million), according to reports.
The exchange’s operating revenue fell nearly 49% to 168.8 billion won ($120 million), and it suffered a net loss of 108.7 billion won ($77 million). Upbit parent company Dunamu reported a similar 49% drop in operating revenue to 408.1 billion won ($289 million).
Dunamu’s operating profits fell almost 80% to 111.5 billion won ($79 million). The company attributed the slump to a global contraction in liquidity, stating that “the recent decline in performance is attributed to a contraction in liquidity across the global digital asset market, which has led to a weakening of investor sentiment.”
Meanwhile, South Korea’s Media and Communications Commission has banned crypto-based prediction platform Polymarket, data shows. The regulator concluded that the platform’s operations constitute illegal gambling under the Criminal Act and National Sports Promotion Act.
The commission found that Polymarket’s yes-or-no contracts encourage speculative behavior where winnings rely on uncontrolled events. Polymarket argued it doesn’t manage user funds and had removed Korean-language services, but the regulator was not swayed.
It stated that “technical features or service methods cannot exempt a platform from domestic legal compliance.” The commission added that because Polymarket provides an illegal gambling environment to domestic users, access blocking was unavoidable.
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