Upbit Review 2026: Fees, Features & Verdict
On this page
Our verdict
Upbit occupies a genuine and defensible position as the dominant spot venue for Korean retail trading, with deep won-denominated liquidity, a well-built interface, and domestic regulatory standing that puts it ahead of most offshore competitors. That said, two problems carry real weight: the exchange is effectively inaccessible to anyone outside South Korea, since the real-name banking requirement cannot be worked around, and the 2019 hot-wallet breach remains part of the record regardless of how Dunamu handled the aftermath.
| Stats | Upbit |
|---|---|
| Assets | |
| Spot assets (crypto) | 341 |
| Trading | |
| 24h spot volume | $780,560,312 |
| 24h futures volume | $0 |
| CryptoWinRate score | 6.2/10 |
Upbit Overview
Upbit is the largest cryptocurrency exchange in South Korea by trading volume and one of the largest in Asia. It lists 341 assets across 521 markets, with reported spot volume of $780,560,312 over the last 24 hours.
Founded in 2017 and operated by Dunamu, it is the venue where Korean retail flow actually goes. That matters more than any feature list: won-denominated order books here are deeper than anywhere else, and Korean listings routinely move global prices.
The complication for most readers is access. Upbit is built around the Korean market and the Korean banking system, and this review is honest about what that means if you are outside it.
Upbit Pros & Cons
- The deepest won liquidity anywhere — $780,560,312 in reported spot volume.
- 341 assets across 521 markets, with fast listings of Korean-market favourites.
- A genuinely good interface on both web and mobile, and quick execution.
- Operates under South Korea’s exchange registration regime rather than offshore.
Against that:
- Effectively Korea-only. Account opening is tied to a Korean bank account and residency in practice.
- Suffered a major hot-wallet theft in 2019 — roughly 342,000 ETH. Dunamu covered user losses from its own funds, but the breach happened.
- No futures or margin product; this is a spot venue.
- Support is Korean-first.
Pros & cons for Upbit have not been entered in the database yet.
Upbit Sign-up & KYC
Registration itself is ordinary — email, password, email confirmation. The gate is what comes after.
Full verification requires identity documents and, for won trading, a real-name verified bank account with a Korean bank. That requirement is regulatory rather than a policy Upbit chose, and it is the reason the exchange is difficult to use from outside South Korea however the sign-up form looks.
Upbit has run separate entities in other jurisdictions over the years, with varying fates. Check what is actually available in your country before assuming the Korean product is.
Upbit Security & Regulation
Upbit is registered with South Korea’s financial authorities and operates under the country’s real-name banking rules — a materially stronger regulatory position than the offshore venues that dominate this industry.
It has also been hacked. In November 2019 roughly 342,000 ETH left a hot wallet. Dunamu reimbursed affected users from its own balance sheet, which is the right outcome and is more than several larger exchanges have managed, but the incident is part of the record and should be part of your assessment.
Since then the exchange has kept the large majority of assets in cold storage and expanded its account-level controls. Two-factor authentication and withdrawal address management are both available and both worth enabling.
| Proof of reserves | Yes |
| Cold storage | Yes |
| Two-factor authentication | Yes |
| Withdrawal address whitelist | Yes |
| Anti-phishing passphrase | — |
Upbit Supported Cryptocurrencies
Upbit lists 341 assets across 521 markets, spread across won, Bitcoin and USDT order books.
The catalogue is not the largest in the industry, but the liquidity behind it is unusually concentrated. A mid-cap token with a won pair here can trade more volume than it does on venues that list ten times as many assets.
This is also why Upbit listings are watched globally. A new listing on this exchange regularly produces a price move that other markets follow.
Upbit lists 341 spot assets.
Keine Kryptowährungen entsprechen deiner Suche.
Upbit Trading Platform
The web terminal and the mobile app are both well built — clean charting, fast order entry, and a market list that surfaces Korean flow clearly. For a spot exchange this is about as good as the category gets.
What is not here matters as much. There is no futures product and no margin trading. Upbit is a place to buy and sell assets, not to run leveraged positions, and if that is what you want you need a different venue.
Upbit Trading Fees
Upbit’s headline trading fee is 0.05% for won-market trades, which is low for a spot venue of this size and applies to makers and takers alike — there is no maker rebate to chase.
Fees on the BTC and USDT markets are higher, typically 0.25%. If you are trading anything other than the won pairs, that difference is the single biggest cost decision on the platform.
Deposit and withdrawal costs are the usual shape: won deposits from a linked bank account are free, and crypto withdrawals are charged per asset and per network. Confirm the figure in the withdrawal screen before sending.
Fee schedules on this venue have changed more than once and vary by market. Treat the numbers above as the shape of the pricing and check the current table before trading size.
The median across the 64 centralized exchanges (CEX) we track, per fee type. Upbit is only ever compared with its own kind. "Average" means within half a basis point of that median.
Upbit Customer Support
Support runs through an in-app ticket system and a help centre, and it is Korean-first. English coverage exists but is thinner, and response quality drops noticeably outside Korean.
For a domestic user this is a non-issue. For anyone else it compounds the access problem: the exchange is hard to join and harder to get help with.
Upbit Deposit Methods
Won deposits arrive by transfer from the real-name verified bank account linked to your identity. That link is mandatory and is the practical barrier to using the exchange from abroad.
Crypto deposits work normally and are free, priced only by the sending network.
Upbit Withdrawal Methods
Won withdrawals go back to the same verified bank account — funds cannot be routed to a third party, which is a deliberate anti-laundering control rather than an inconvenience.
Crypto withdrawals are per-asset and per-network. Upbit applies holding periods on newly deposited funds and on new withdrawal addresses, so plan around a delay rather than expecting an instant exit.
Upbit Alternatives
| Feature | Upbit | Kraken | Bybit | Binance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Founded | — | 2011 | 2018 | 2017 |
| CryptoWinRate score | 6.2/10 | 9.3/10 | 9/10 | 8.9/10 |
| Spot maker fee | — | 0.4% | 0.1% | 0.1% |
| Spot taker fee | — | 0.8% | 0.1% | 0.1% |
| Futures maker fee | — | 0.02% | 0.02% | 0.02% |
| Futures taker fee | — | 0.05% | 0.055% | 0.05% |
| Spot assets (crypto) | 341 | 679 | 380 | 507 |
| Futures contracts (crypto) | — | 199 | 711 | 602 |
| Max leverage | — | 50× | 100× | 150× |
| KYC | — | Required | Required | Required |
| Available in your country | — | — | — | — |
| Links |
See every Upbit alternative compared
Bottom Line
If you are in South Korea, Upbit is the default and deservedly so: $780,560,312 of spot volume, 341 assets, a good interface, and domestic regulatory standing.
If you are not, the honest answer is that this is probably not an exchange you can use. The real-name bank requirement is not a formality you can work around, and no amount of feature comparison changes it.
The 2019 breach deserves weight but not disqualification. Dunamu made users whole, which is the test that actually matters when a venue fails.
Frequently Asked Questions
In practice, mostly no. Won trading requires a real-name verified account with a Korean bank, and that requirement is regulatory rather than optional.
Around 0.05% on the won markets for both makers and takers, and typically 0.25% on the BTC and USDT markets. Check the current table before trading size.
341 assets across 521 markets.
Yes. In November 2019 about 342,000 ETH was taken from a hot wallet. Operator Dunamu covered the losses from its own funds, so users were made whole.
No. Upbit is a spot exchange with no futures and no margin product.
It is the largest exchange in South Korea by volume, currently reporting $780,560,312 in spot trading over 24 hours.
No, KYC is not required.
Upbit has no spot market. Figures load live from our exchange database.
No, the US appears on Upbit's restricted-country list.
