Upbit, a major South Korean cryptocurrency exchange, began supporting trading for Ripple USD (RLUSD) on July 28. The new pairs include KRW, BTC, and USDT markets, with trading launching at 2 p.m. Korea Standard Time, pending sufficient liquidity.
Deposits and withdrawals are restricted to the XRP Ledger version of RLUSD only, requiring users to input destination tags for incoming transfers. This measure ensures accurate crediting, as Upbit uses one wallet address for multiple customers. Transfers via unsupported networks may face delays or rejection, especially if they don’t comply with South Korea’s Travel Rule regulations.
Upbit implemented several safeguards for the initial trading period: buy orders were temporarily blocked for about five minutes after launch, and sell orders priced more than 10% below the previous day’s close were also restricted during that time. In addition, only limit orders were allowed for the first two hours, with market and other conditional orders disabled. The exchange reserved the right to postpone trading if liquidity thresholds were unmet.
At 11 a.m. KST, shortly before trading began, Upbit quoted RLUSD around 1,468.76 KRW, 0.00001583 BTC, and 0.9995 USDT. These prices were indicative and not based on completed trades. On the broader market, RLUSD continued to hover near its $1 peg, with circulating supply estimated at approximately 1.59 billion tokens.
Ripple officially reported $1.51 billion circulating RLUSD backed by $1.62 billion reserves as of July 16, reflecting stable backing for the token. Upbit’s move adds a significant trading venue for RLUSD in South Korea, a market known for strong XRP activity.
