Trading on Upbit, South Korea's largest cryptocurrency exchange, fell about 20% in October from September, according to Capital Times calculations from CoinGecko data, while Hong Kong's spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds recorded no net new money for two weeks, according to CoinGlass.

Upbit averaged about 13,260 bitcoin of daily trading volume in October, down from 16,554 bitcoin a day in September, based on Capital Times averages of CoinGecko's daily readings. Because the figures are measured in bitcoin and the coin lost about 7.3% over the month, the decline in dollar or won terms was steeper. For investors in Asia, the numbers point to a retail base that pulled back before and after the record theft at Binance, rather than one that rushed in to buy the dip.

Korean and Japanese exchanges thin out

The slowdown was broad. Bithumb, Upbit's main domestic rival, averaged about 6,173 bitcoin of daily volume in October, down about 8% from 6,736 in September, by the same Capital Times calculations from CoinGecko data. In Japan, bitFlyer averaged about 296 bitcoin a day, down about 11% from 331.

Binance, the world's largest exchange, averaged about 109,390 bitcoin a day in October, down about 14% from 127,199 in September.

Upbit's last week of October showed how quickly local interest can switch off. Its 24-hour volume stood near 26,600 bitcoin in the reading for Oct. 25, then fell below 13,000 two days later and stayed between about 10,400 and 14,800 for the rest of the month. By Nov. 1 and Nov. 2 it had dropped to roughly 8,100 to 8,400 bitcoin, well under its October average.

Bithumb followed the same path, with daily readings of about 3,000 to 3,500 bitcoin from Nov. 1 to Nov. 3, about half its October average. South Korea's regulators had already been pressing local exchanges on cold-wallet storage after the Binance breach.

Binance volume spikes, then fades

The theft at Binance briefly pushed activity the other way. Hackers stole about $6.3 billion from the exchange, most of it in about 20 minutes starting late on Thursday, Oct. 29, Reuters reported, citing blockchain analysts who linked the attack to North Korea. Binance halted withdrawals and set aside about $6.34 billion of company funds to cover losses, according to Reuters.

Binance's own 24-hour volume rose to about 150,000 bitcoin in the reading for Oct. 30 and about 125,400 in the reading for Oct. 31, CoinGecko data showed, well above its October average. It then fell to about 34,300 bitcoin on Nov. 1, a weekend, before recovering to about 85,800 in the latest reading on Nov. 3.

Bitcoin dropped to a six-week low of $76,368 after the hack, and ether fell to a two-month low of $2,178, according to Reuters. Al Jazeera reported that crypto was already under pressure from higher U.S. interest rates and weaker ETF demand before the breach.

Tim Sun of HashKey Group told Reuters the breach may “further dampen risk appetite.”

Hong Kong ETFs stand still

In Hong Kong, the three spot bitcoin ETFs run by China Asset Management, Harvest and Bosera with HashKey recorded zero net flows on every trading day from Oct. 20 through Nov. 2, according to CoinGlass data. Their combined holdings stayed at about 4,840 bitcoin. Capital Times could not independently confirm the daily figures with the fund managers.

That left the funds' value moving only with the price of the coin. Total net assets fell to about $273.5 million on Nov. 2 from about $290.3 million on Oct. 21. Trading in the funds was thin: the total value traded was about $2.4 million on Oct. 30, the day after the hack, and about $186,000 on Nov. 2.

Since their launch on April 30, 2024, the Hong Kong funds have taken in a net 4,150 bitcoin, CoinGlass data showed, with ChinaAMC accounting for about 2,390 bitcoin and Bosera with HashKey about 1,690. Harvest's fund has drawn a net 72 bitcoin.

Prices kept sliding into the new month. Bitcoin traded at about $76,640 in late morning in Hong Kong on Nov. 3, down about 2.5% over 24 hours, according to CoinGecko. That equaled about HK$601,400 or about 102.7 million won. Ether was near $2,244.

Binance said on Oct. 30 that it expected to resume withdrawals within 48 hours, Reuters reported. Upbit's daily volume, at about 8,200 bitcoin in the Nov. 3 reading, was still running at less than two-thirds of its October average.