Trading volumes and prices for the two tokens have surged in the past few days on local exchanges.

Solar (SXP) and icon (ICX) tokens seem to be the new bets for South Korean traders.

Both tokens have rallied by as much as 40% in the past 24 hours with hundreds of millions of dollars in trading volumes on local crypto exchanges.

The ICX-Korean won token pair saw over $420 million in trading volume on UpBit, a prominent South Korean exchange, CoinGecko data shows. The SXP-won trading pair saw over $490 million in volume, more than either bitcoin or ether trading pairs.

In both cases, trading volume exceeded market value: SXP had a market capitalization of $455 million at writing time on Tuesday, while icon’s capitalization is just under $350 million.

The payments-focused blockchain Solar Network is the rebranded mainnet of Swipe, previously a debit card provider whose purchase Binance announced in 2020. Last week, Binance said it would support a token migration of SXP in the coming days – which may have buoyed recent interest.

ICX is popular in South Korea for its local roots. The network allows users to transfer tokens between different blockchains allowing ICX to be used for staking, network governance and collateralization on decentralized finance (DeFi) platforms.

South Korean crypto traders have a record of pushing euphoric rallies on tokens. The so-called Kimchi Premium originates from the region – where prices of bitcoin on local exchanges can trade at a premium of as much as 30% above international counterparts.

Last week saw a similar rally on xrp (XRP): UpBit led global XRP trading volumes with more than $790 million worth of tokens traded over a 24-hour rolling period on March 30.

Still, there’s reason to treat the figures with caution. Some of these volumes may be attributable to wash trading, a manipulative technique in which traders continually buy and sell the same asset to drive up volumes to create a false impression of market activity.

The post South Korean Traders Are Jumping on SXP, ICX Tokens appeared first on Crypto Insider.

The firm did not publicly disclose the deal size.

(Seoul, South Korea) – Digital asset exchange Crypto.com said on Monday that it has acquired South Korean payment service firm PnLink Co. and virtual-asset exchange OK-BIT Co.

The move has allowed Crypto.com to secure the Electronic Financial Transaction Act and Virtual Asset Service Provider registration licenses in Korea. These licenses are provided to trading and financial firms to conduct business legitimately within Korea and extend services to locals.

“This is an exciting next step for Crypto.com in an important market,” Kris Marszalek, co-founder and CEO of Crypto.com, said in a statement “We are committed to working with regulators to continue to bring our products and services to market, particularly in countries like South Korea where consumers have shown strong interest and adoption of digital currencies,” he added.

Crypto.com did not disclose the deal size or whether the firm would face any regulatory hurdles.

The acquisitions come in the middle of a crypto market downturn, which has pushed several large exchanges to cut jobs and revise their growth plans.

However, in the midst of the downturn, Crypto.com has made several strides to expand. It recently received regulatory approval to operate in Italy, and Greece. In June, it obtained a license in Singapore, and in March the exchange opened an office in Dubai.

The post Crypto.com Receives South Korean Regulatory Licenses After Buying Local Firms appeared first on Crypto Insider.