As South Korea has passed China in total Bitcoin trading volume, a new cryptocurrency exchange is being launched that’ll allow investors to trade 111 different altcoins.

Mobile app offspring

Upbit is an altcoin exchange created by Dunamu that will allow investors to trade different altcoins. Dunamu is the developer of a mobile app that provides soft copies of newspapers in South Korea and is owned by Kakaostock, South Korea’s top mobile trading app.

Kakaostock is the offspring of parent company Kakaotalk, South Korea’s top mobile smartphone messenger app (similar to Wechat in China) with approximately 49.5 mln (monthly) active users worldwide.

From 5 to over 100

Upbit will be the first South Korean altcoin exchange to provide investors an opportunity to invest in altcoins on that scale. Current exchanges in South Korea typically offer about five different altcoins to invest in.

From now on, the cryptocommunity expects a substantial fraction of Korean investors to utilize Upbit upon it’s launch, due to the newfound investment opportunities that Upbit will provide them. It’s expected that many Korean investors will cease trading on the platform that they currently use, to trade on Upbit.

Upbit is collaborating with US-based cryptocurrency exchange Bittrex for this business endeavor. Bittrex exchange provides investors the opportunity to invest in 190 different cryptocurrencies.

Although Upbit will be featuring 79 fewer coins available for trade compared to Bittrex, the launch of Upbit will signify the first Korean exchange where Korean investors will have the option to invest in a large variety coins from within their own country.

It will be interesting to see the effect this new exchange will have on the cryptocurrency economy in Korea and throughout the world - but either way, the opening of a new exchange exemplifies the strength of the crypto industry.