USDT (USDT) Keeps 98.1% Share in Upbit Stablecoin Fee Promo

USDT News

Tether’s USDT (USDT) remained the dominant settlement asset in Upbit’s short stablecoin campaign as of Aug. 15, 2026, showing that a temporary fee waiver could not redirect South Korea’s dollar-stablecoin flow toward newly listed alternatives. The exchange removed its 0.05% fee on won-denominated stablecoin markets from July 26 to Aug. 9 and quickly added RLUSD and USDG, but the incentive mainly amplified existing USDT demand. During the offer, Upbit’s average daily stablecoin volume climbed 162% from 46.96 billion won to 123.06 billion won, while USDT’s own daily average rose from 46.06 billion won to 120.71 billion won. That left the token with a 98.1% share of the venue’s stablecoin activity, almost unchanged from the pre-promotion mix. Newly listed products contributed only about 1% of the increase: RLUSD averaged 710 million won per day after opening at 5.6 billion won, and USDG averaged 340 million won after a 2.24 billion won debut. Longer-tail tokens tied to USD1, USDS, USDE and gold-linked XAUT did not gain meaningful traction even with fees waived. The pattern underscores how deep Tether liquidity remains in a market where stablecoins serve as a cross-border transfer rail rather than a speculative position. Upbit’s broader competitive position has also weakened. In June 2026, Coinone led the national stablecoin segment with 84.58 billion won in daily average volume and a 34.8% share, followed by Bithumb at 31.1% and Upbit at 30.1%, a sharp change from January 2025, when Upbit and Bithumb together controlled more than 95%. Coinone’s permanent zero-fee policy, introduced in October 2025, continues to pressure Upbit’s temporary approach, especially as the country’s five largest exchanges saw average daily stablecoin volume fall to $466.69 million in July from $2.37 billion in January. The contraction has occurred while exchanges treat stablecoins as cycle-resistant payment infrastructure rather than a bear-market hedge. Those conditions frame the promotion as a defensive liquidity move, not a durable diversification of altcoin-style trading demand away from USDT.

Bitget’s latest product expansion also keeps USDT at the center of the trade structure. The exchange’s official announcement on Aug. 14 said Stock Dual Investment now supports more than 20 U.S. stock and ETF-linked rTokens, up from six products when the service launched on July 25. The supported list includes tokens tied to Nvidia, Tesla, Apple, Meta, Advanced Micro Devices, Intel, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Coinbase, Circle, Strategy and two leveraged semiconductor ETFs. Under the Buy Low structure, users subscribe with USDT, select a target price and settlement date, and either receive the linked token at the agreed price plus interest if the settlement level is reached, or get their USDT principal and interest if it is not. Sell High works in reverse: users deposit the stock token, and the product either converts it at the target price with interest or returns the token with interest. Bitget classifies the product as non-principal-guaranteed, with funds locked until maturity and conversion prices potentially less favorable than open-market levels. The venue also moved settlement to 11:30 p.m. UTC+8, or 11 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time, about 90 minutes after regular U.S. cash markets open, so pricing can reflect early-session moves. To stimulate participation, Bitget is running an invitation-only deposit campaign through Aug. 21. A net deposit of at least 1,000 USDT qualifies for a 1,000 USDT trading-bonus voucher, while a 30,000 USDT threshold adds another 2,000 USDT, capped at 3,000 USDT per user from a 1 million USDT pool. The bonus is not an airdrop in the free-transfer sense: it cannot be withdrawn, is limited to designated Buy Low orders and carries a three-day trial period. A separate subscription campaign runs through Aug. 28, with cumulative tiers from 50,000 USDT to 3 million USDT tied to limited merchandise. Bitget has not said the stock-linked offering is available to U.S. residents, and its planned U.S. entry remains dependent on money-transmitter, derivatives and broker-dealer approvals.

COINOTAG’s analysis: these two developments point to the same conclusion — USDT is being treated as exchange infrastructure, not merely as one listing among many. Upbit’s fee data shows traders still default to the deepest dollar stablecoin even when incentives favor alternatives, while Bitget’s official announcement confirms USDT is the subscription and return asset for its expanded Buy Low product. That role is distinct from the design risk associated with algorithmic stablecoins, because USDT’s utility in these markets comes from settlement liquidity rather than code-managed peg mechanics. For exchanges facing shrinking stablecoin volumes, retaining USDT flow may matter more than short-term fee revenue or attempts to fragment liquidity across newer dollar tokens.