Major Altcoin Cleanup: 18 Cryptocurrencies Delisted from South Korean Exchanges

The trend of South Korean exchanges reducing their altcoin listings continued in August, one of the most important centers of the cryptocurrency market.

An examination of the delisting schedules of Upbit, Bithumb, Coinone, Korbit, and Gopax shows that as of August 29, 18 different cryptocurrencies were delisted from at least one South Korean exchange. Considering that the same asset was delisted from multiple exchanges, a total of 24 separate trading supports were terminated.

First Delistings: AERGO and AQT

The first delistings occurred on August 3 from Upbit. South Korea's largest cryptocurrency exchange terminated support for Aergo (AERGO) and Alpha Quark (AQT) in both BTC and Korean won trading pairs as of 3:00 PM.

The process for AERGO and AQT progressed differently from other low-volume coins. The two projects were part of an ecosystem merger and token conversion process conducted under the House Party Protocol (HPP). Upbit supported the HPP token conversion for users after the termination of trading support.

Humanity Exited from Three Exchanges on the Same Day

Another significant development occurred on August 10. Humanity (H) was delisted from Bithumb, Coinone, and Gopax at 3:00 PM on the same day.

Coinone had previously stated that an unexplained or unresolved security incident occurred in the wallets managed by the project's administration, resulting in user losses. The exchange announced that sufficient evidence had not been found to confirm that the reasons leading to the trading warning had been resolved after the investigations.

The Main Delisting Wave Came on August 18

The largest delisting operation of the month took place on August 18. A total of 19 delistings occurred across four different South Korean exchanges on the same day.

Bithumb terminated trading support for Gracy (GRACY), Tottenham Hotspur Fan Token (SPURS), ZTX (ZTX), WIKEN (WIKEN), and Step App (FITFI). The exchange noted that these coins had previously fallen below the total market value and trading volume criteria, leading to their inclusion on the warning list. Five coins were delisted due to unresolved issues.

Coinone also delisted nine coins on the same day. These included BaaSid (BAAS), WIKEN, ZTX, Tottenham Hotspur Fan Token (SPURS), ZKLink (ZKL), Gomble (GM), MetaCene (MAK), Sidekick (K), and Fragmetric (FRAG).

Coinone reported that all nine cryptocurrencies fell below the minimum criteria in terms of total market value both domestically and internationally. It was also noted that BaaSid did not meet the trading volume criteria.

Gopax also terminated trading support for Blossory (BLY), Fautor (FTR), Green Satoshi Token (GST), and Unizen (ZCX) on August 18. On the same day, Upbit delisted the Tottenham Hotspur Fan Token from the BTC pair.

Thus, SPURS lost trading support on three major South Korean exchanges—Upbit, Bithumb, and Coinone—in a single day. Upbit indicated that SPURS' total market value on domestic and international exchanges was insufficient and that previously identified issues had not been resolved.

18 Coins Delisted in August

The cryptocurrencies that had their trading support terminated from at least one major South Korean exchange during the month are as follows:

AERGO, AQT, H, GRACY, SPURS, ZTX, WIKEN, FITFI, BAAS, ZKL, GM, MAK, K, FRAG, BLY, FTR, GST, and ZCX.

On the Korbit side, no new delistings were observed in August.

Delisting Numbers Increased by 258% in South Korea

The situation in August continues a broader trend observed in South Korean exchanges since the beginning of the year.

In the first half of the year, 68 trading supports were terminated across the five major exchanges in the country. This figure represents a 258% increase compared to the 19 delistings during the same period last year.

During the same period, the number of new trading supports decreased from 210 to 117, a decline of 44%. When delistings are removed, the net number of new trading supports dropped from 191 to just 49.

The figures indicate that South Korean exchanges are adopting a stricter policy of removing assets that do not meet criteria for market value, liquidity, project sustainability, and user security, rather than rapidly listing new and low-volume coins.

Moreover, the delisting wave will not be limited to August. According to new decisions made in August, Upbit and Coinone will delist BONK on September 7, and Upbit and Bithumb will delist STORJ and JASMY on September 14. Bithumb also announced that it would terminate trading support for Synthetix (SNX) on September 28.