The Korean-won trading pairings of Upbit and Bithumb offered BTC at a premium of approximately $2,000.
One of the most prominent South Korean exchanges, Upbit, traded Bitcoin with a burgeoning premium. Despite the fact that a premium on the Korean won pair is not uncommon, the disparity is increasing this time.
The majority of spot exchanges traded BTC at $94,574.92. The price on Upbit was $96,722.63, resulting in a discrepancy of over $2,000.
The Korean won markets account for a mere 1.78% of the total BTC trading activity. With an intuitive dollar-based position, over 24.83% of trading is against the US dollar, while 51.46% is against USDT.
The Korean won index’s most recent surge suggests a temporary stampede to purchase Bitcoin, despite the fact that the premium typically increases in line with the market. Since October, the Korean won has declined at a faster pace in relation to the dollar, which has resulted in a transition to Bitcoin as a countermeasure.
Concerns regarding South Korea’s economy have arisen as a result of the Korean won’s return to levels that have not been observed since the 2008 financial crisis. Retail demand is strong in the nation as a means to compensate for stagnating salaries, making it one of the primary crypto centers. For the first time, the number of domestic crypto investors surpassed 15 million, according to recent data from the Bank of Korea.
The most recent uptick in activity by South Korean investors began in the latter months of 2024, while they have been quite active throughout prior bull cycles. An additional 610K South Koreans bought crypto for the first time after the US elections, when the won started to fall faster against the dollar. As a consequence, approximately 30% of the population of South Korea has invested in cryptocurrency.
Crypto investors utilized the top five centralized exchanges in the nation: Upbit, Bithumb, Coinone, Korbit, and GOPAX. The majority of exchanges are inaccessible to foreign investors who lack a bank account in the country, which hinders the ease of arbitrage for international traders. BTC remains the preferred alternative investment due to the fact that those markets are relatively conservative in their approach to listing new coins and tokens.
South Korea implemented an additional layer of regulations in July under the Virtual Asset User Protection Act. In addition, the country’s central bank was able to monitor the crypto market more closely as a result of the new regulations. This enabled the Bank of Korea to monitor the expansion of cryptocurrency investors in the nation for the first time.
The Democratic Party of Korea’s Representative, Lim Gwang-hyun, has stated that crypto markets are surpassing traditional stock markets in terms of retail activity and volumes. In November, the volume of transactions on South Korean virtual asset exchanges exceeded the KOSPI and KOSDAQ markets by the equivalent of $100B.
Exchanges have experienced an increase in inflows over the past three months, indicating a demand for hazardous assets with substantial potential returns. In the past year, South Korean merchants have increased the amount of money they deposit into centralized exchanges on a monthly basis.
Also Read: Strive files for the “Bitcoin Bond” ETF that is associated with MicroStrategy holdings
