Everything You Need To Know About Upbit

History and About

Upbit is a South Korean crypto exchange which released in October 2017. It was created by Korea’s biggest messaging app developer, Kakao, providing 111 altcoins when it was launched.

Kakao Corp is more than just a giant internet company. The company’s ‘Kakao Talk’ app is by far the biggest messaging application in South Korea. Kakao also provides Korea’s second most popular search engine, Daum, which is just behind Naver in terms of its overall traffic volume. The CEO behind the company, Song Chi-Hyung, is estimated to be worth around $500 million.

The company has recently been in the news for negative reasons, as it is currently under investigation by Korean authorities over alleged charges of fraud. As it is the largest exchange in South Korea, these investigations have hit their crypto market, though the company maintains its innocence. To add to this, UpBit refused to join other exchanges in a self-regulatory body, causing some to question their motives.

UpBit is an exchange that offers single account trading with no leveraged trading options. It is exclusive to people who have established residency in South Korea, so if you’re from abroad you will not be able to register. Furthermore, ID verification is essential. Those under 19 are not permitted to make any trades.

Trading Pairs and Trading Volume

Upbit offers more than 200 trading pairs, as it is in an active partnership with Bittrex. Every trading pair besides those with Korean Won (KRW) are provided through Bittrex. Currently, the most popular traded pairs being ADA/KRW SNT/KRW and BTC/KRW.

At press time, Upbit’s trading volume was at $734.9 million. Because it is such a large exchange, Upbit is allowed to trade in fiat in South Korea. However, Won is the only fiat currency that is currently supported.

UpBit was in operation for quite some time before it publicly released ttrading volume data. This proved to be controversial, as this was seemingly done to showcase major developments. Its large trading volume allows for a high level of liquidity which is great for users.

https://coinlib.io/exchange/upbit

User Reputation and Customer Service

The exchange offers customer support over email, by telephone, and also through KakaoTalk, the app which is owned by Kakao. Upbit’s customer support resources have a generally good reputation with plenty of agents on hand to respond to inquiries or difficulties. An extensive FAQ section is also provided. They aim to get a response to the customers as quickly as possible.

Upbit has had relatively possible feedback on Reddit, as they talk about the innovations that would happen for the exchange. Official contact details can also be found on twitter:

I’m not an employee of UPbit. If you have any questions or concerns, the official UPbit contact sources are provided below. pic.twitter.com/ThD2aBCDhr

— UPbit Translator (@UPbitExchange) October 13, 2017

Their KakaoTalk platform for answering Upbit-related questions can be found here.

Security

UpBit provides several layers of security for users. First of all, users are required have to be authenticated using legal forms of identification.

The exchange ialso uses 2-Factor Authentication. Upbit’s online wallet security is provided by BitGo,  recognized as the epitome of multi-signature wallets and favored by many of the leading crypto exchanges worldwide.

Additional account security is provided by working with Kakao Pay, the mobile payments app which is owned by its partner Kakao Corp., which is a key player on the South Korean market.

The Korea Fair Trade Commission has recently decided to put forward legislation for the crypto marketplace. They’ve altered digital and financial laws, for example, to address changing cryptocurrency markets. 

They have also produced anti-money laundering regulations specifically created for Bitcoin. Both of these decisions came as a surprise to Bitcoin users in Korea. 

Creating an Account

Accounts require email verification and identity authentication. Only South Korean individuals can create an account, and institutional trading is supported. The length of time invovled with ID verification varies, but normally takes a couple of days to verify.

Payments are done via credit cards or wire transfers. Mobile accounts are available for all those who use the service, for extra security these applications are particularly effective as they’re developed by the leading South Korean firm which specialises in this aspect.

There are no fees when it comes to setting up an account, but withdrawal fees apply when taking out certain types of currency which vary, depending on the currency. There are no fees for deposits whatsoever.