'Super Gap' Upbit vs. 'Chaser' Bithumb's Marketing Battle [Crypto Briefing]

[Financial News] Bithumb is narrowing the gap with Upbit, the No. 1 domestic virtual asset trading platform. The strategy of focusing intensely on marketing to attract new users seems to be working. Upbit is also increasing its marketing share to solidify its position.
On the 15th, according to the virtual asset market platform CoinGecko, the average trading volume of the two companies from the 1st to the 14th of this month was $2.35 billion for Upbit and $1.39 billion for Bithumb. During the same period, the market shares were recorded as 61.1% and 36.2%, respectively. The gap in market share between Upbit and Bithumb is gradually narrowing. As of January this year, there was a 52.0% point difference, but it has gradually narrowed to △40.6% points in May △35.9% points in June △41.7% points in July △32.5% points in August △25.6% points in September.
The industry pointed to Bithumb's aggressive marketing expansion as the main factor. Bithumb has significantly increased its marketing expenses since last year to expand its market share. The combined marketing expenses of Bithumb's advertising and promotional costs in 2022 and 2023 were 12.8 billion won and 16.1 billion won, respectively. However, in 2024, it used more than ten times the amount, totaling 192.2 billion won compared to the same period last year. In the first half of this year, it spent 134.6 billion won, an 84.9% increase compared to the same period last year.
Recently, Bithumb has been focusing on events to attract new users. Since July this year, Bithumb has held a total of 11 events for new registered users. These events mainly provided benefits to new registered users. To enhance its brand image, it also newly selected actors Jung Woo-sung and Jeon Jong-seo as brand models on the 11th.
In response, Dunamu, the operator of the virtual asset exchange Upbit, is also increasing its marketing expenses. Dunamu's advertising expenses increased from 20.6 billion won in 2023 to 25 billion won in 2024. In the first half of 2025, it was 19 billion won, a 67.8% increase compared to the same period last year (11.3 billion won).
However, rather than focusing on attracting new users, it continued various social activities based on its No. 1 domestic position, such as 'Youth Digital Asset Education' and 'Security Talent Development Academy'. Recently, it participated as an official sponsor of the Korean professional league 'LCK' of the game 'League of Legends (LoL)'. It also released a campaign video featuring the representative player 'Faker (Lee Sang-hyeok)' to enhance its brand image.
Some voices warn against the 'marketing battle' for market share expansion. The competition for market share within a limited number of investors could lead to 'taking users from each other'. Therefore, there are voices calling for appropriate regulations or laws so that exchanges can provide various ancillary services related to virtual asset investment safely to expand investors and the overall prosperity of the industry.
Professor Hwang Seok-jin of Dongguk University's Graduate School of International Information Security said, "The Virtual Asset User Protection Act was implemented in July this year, but there are still no laws related to the promotion or development of the industry," emphasizing the need for policies that encourage the release of various services related to virtual asset investment so that the overall industry can develop in a balanced manner.

yimsh0214@fnnews.com Im Sang-hyuk Reporter