It has been revealed that domestic virtual asset exchanges Coinbit and Coinone achieved market share expansion effects below single digits during the initial phase of their transaction fee waivers. With user acquisition falling short of expectations, these exchanges are expected to face deeper concerns.
According to the virtual asset industry on the 28th, Coinbit (operated by Digital X) waived transaction fees for all virtual assets in its won market starting at 9 a.m. on the 24th for one year. The benefit was applied uniformly to all members without any additional conditions.
Coinone implemented a transaction fee waiver on the 26th from 11 a.m., issuing vouchers with a 0% fee rate indefinitely. This move escalated its response following the distribution of discount vouchers (applying a 0.04% rate) starting on the 30th of last month.
However, according to trading volume market share data compiled by CoinGecko and calculated by MoneyToday among the five exchanges, Coinbit captured only 0.2% to 1.1% of domestic trading volume during the 96th hours immediately after the fee waiver, representing an increase of just 0.1 to 0.3 percentage points (p) compared to the same period before the waiver (0.1% to 0.8%).
Coinone held a market share of 1.3% to 2.8% during the 48th hours prior to the fee waiver and 1.6% to 5.0% during the same period immediately after, achieving an effect that raised its peak market share at specific points by approximately 2.2 percentage points. However, Coinone has previously recorded similar levels of market share during past promotional events.
As of 11 a.m. today, the five-exchange trading volume market share was aggregated as follows: Upbit 56.1%, Bithumb 39.2%, Coinone 3.9%, Coinbit 0.8%, and GOPAX below 0.0%. The trend continues with the top two exchanges holding more than 95% of the total market share.
The decision to waive transaction fees is considered a drastic measure in the domestic exchange industry. All five exchanges (Upbit, Bithumb, Coinone, Coinbit, and GOPAX) rely on fee income for 97% to 100% of their annual revenue.
For exchanges that have abandoned transaction fees, only limited additional revenues such as leverage usage fees remain. If they fail to expand market share while cutting off their core revenue source, financial damage is inevitable.
Coinbit and Coinone plan to soon reveal specific plans for new businesses and seek a recovery, but until new business models take root in the market, they must strive to survive through their core operations.
With the virtual asset market failing to recover from last year's sharp decline, industry observers predict that domestic exchanges will face a war of attrition for some time. Upbit and Bithumb experienced a sharp drop in profits in the first and second quarters of this year due to base effects from a strong market trend.
A virtual asset industry official stated, "The period when competition for market share among exchanges intensified was mainly during periods when overall trading volume surged significantly," adding, "It will be necessary to wait and see regarding the possibility of changes in the overall market structure."
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