[Alpha Biz=(Chicago) Reporter Paul Lee] Upbit and Bithumb, South Korea's No. 1 and No. 2 virtual asset exchanges, saw their earnings plunge in the wake of the "Crypto Winter" that swept the virtual asset market last year.
According to the Financial Supervisory Service's electronic disclosure system on the 2nd, Dunamu recorded sales of 1.2492 trillion won last year. It's down 66% from the previous year. Operating profit and net profit are 810.1 billion won and 130.8 billion won, respectively. It's down 75 percent, 94 percent.
Bithumb Korea, the operator, recorded sales of 320.1 billion won, operating profit of 163.5 billion won, and net profit of 95 billion won. The figure fell 68 percent, 79 percent and 85 percent, respectively.
The worsening performance of Dunamu and Bithumb is the aftermath of reduced commission income due to a sharp drop in virtual asset transactions. Bithumb accounts for commission sales separately. Last year, commission sales amounted to 320 billion won, down 689.1 billion won from the previous year (1.91 trillion won). It decreased by 68%, accounting for most of the total sales decline (698.9 billion won).
The reason why net profit declined more than sales and operating profit was because the decline in the market price of virtual assets held by the exchange resulted in hundreds of billions of won in virtual asset valuation losses. Dunamu and Bithumb's virtual asset losses amounted to 484 billion won and 107.8 billion won, respectively. Virtual asset losses, which are appropriated as non-operating expenses, played a major role in increasing the amount of net profit decline.
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