JAKARTA - The South Korean crypto industry is experiencing a significant spike, as can be seen from the salaries of crypto exchange employees who are now surpassing employees at the country's largest commercial banks. Recent data show that Upbit employees, one of South Korea's largest crypto exchanges, enjoyed a sharp wage increase thanks to the impressive financial performance of the first half of the year. This phenomenon reflects how lucrative the crypto industry is amid the high market volatility.
Reporting from Crypto News, according to a report from News1, the average annual salary in Upbit reached around $99,000 in the first half of 2024, up more than double compared to the same period last year. The increase was largely driven by performance-based bonuses, which also amplify Upbit's position as one of the major players in the domestic crypto industry.
The increase in salaries cannot be separated from the crypto market boom that occurred in the first quarter of 2024. The launch of Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETF) in the United States is thought to be one of the factors driving a surge in interest and trading activity on South Korea's crypto exchanges, including Upbit. This phenomenon also attracts retail investors known as smells' in the Korean crypto market, which are usually active when token prices are experiencing a sharp increase or decline.
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The data compiled by the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) and published on August 18, 2024 revealed that Dunamu, the Upbit operator, recorded operating revenues of KRW 531.1 billion (393.4 million US Dollars or Rp6 trillion) in the first quarter of 2024. This figure shows an increase of 60.5% compared to the fourth quarter of the previous year. This increase in revenue allows Dunamu to provide a significant performance bonus to its employees.
Interestingly, the average salary in Upbit now exceeds the salaries of employees in the four largest banks in South Korea's Kookmin Bank, Shinhan Bank, KEB Hana Bank, and Woori Bank, which recorded an average annual salary of under US$86.000 (Rp1.3 billion) in the 2023 financial year. This shows how lucrative the crypto industry is in the midst of high market volatility.
Not only ordinary employees enjoy a salary increase, but also executives. Dunamu CEO, Song Chi-hyung, received a compensation package of 3.52 million US Dollars (Rp54 billion) in the first half of this year, more than double the CEO's salary in the traditional financial sector. In comparison, the CEO of Citibank Korea received 1.54 million US Dollars (Rp23 billion), while the Chair of Hana Financial Group, Ham Young-joo, received 1.35 million US Dollars (Rp21 billion) in the same period.
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