Dunamu, the operator of South Korea's largest cryptocurrency exchange Upbit, reported a sharp quarterly profit decline as trading volumes cooled. The company posted Q2 revenue of KRW 173.5 billion (about $123 million) and operating profit of KRW 23.5 billion (about $16.7 million), down 26.1% and 73.3% quarter over quarter, respectively.
The drop in operating profit was steeper than the revenue decline because Dunamu's operating margin itself compressed sharply, falling to roughly 13.5% in the second quarter from around 37.5% in the first, according to Dunamu's own investor disclosures. Net profit fared somewhat better, falling a smaller 43.9% for the quarter, cushioned by non-operating items.
A Rough First Half
The second-quarter numbers extend a weak first half for the company. Dunamu's consolidated operating revenue for the first six months of 2026 came in at roughly KRW 408.1 billion, down 49.1% from the same period a year earlier, while first-half operating profit fell 79.7% year over year. The company attributed the decline to reduced liquidity across the global digital-asset market broadly, which dampened trading activity and, by extension, the exchange fees that make up the bulk of Dunamu's revenue.
A Familiar Story Across Exchanges
Dunamu's results mirror a pattern showing up across the exchange sector this earnings season, as other major platforms have similarly reported softer trading volumes weighing on profitability even where headline revenue held up better than operating income. For Upbit specifically, which has long dominated South Korea's won-denominated crypto trading market and recently moved to delist several lower-volume tokens alongside rival Bithumb, the scale of the profit compression underscores how sensitive exchange economics remain to swings in overall market activity, regardless of a platform's market-share position.
Related: Gemini Posts $107.7M Q2 Loss as Trading Volume Falls, Non-Trading Revenue Grows
