Right, so the Bitcoin Kimchi premium is back, and let me tell you, it’s doing a bloody brilliant impression of a rollercoaster plummeting into a vat of kimchi jjigae. According to CoinDesk, this premium, the price difference between Bitcoin on South Korean exchanges and global platforms, has gone absolutely bonkers, surging over 10%. Meanwhile, Bitcoin itself is having a bit of a wobble, dropping 6% in the last 24 hours.
You’ve got traders, bless their souls, thinking they can buy Bitcoin on the cheap elsewhere and sell it in South Korea for a quick buck. But, here’s the kicker, capital controls in Korea are tighter than my jeans after a Sunday roast. So, traders are basically using this premium like a mood ring for the crypto market. “Oh, the Kimchi premium is sky high? Must be a bloody good time to panic sell!”
Korean Retail Traders Ghosting Crypto Market 👻
Trading volumes on South Korean exchanges, those big players Bithumb and Upbit, have taken a nosedive this week. It’s like the crypto party has officially ended for retail investors. We’re seeing a drop in dollar-margined stablecoin balances, like Tether’s USDT, and people are reporting withdrawal delays. Talk about a bad date, right?
Bradley Park, an analyst at Seoul-based DNTV Research, summed it up nicely: “Retail investors are either fully invested in the spot market, or they’ve moved their funds to decentralized exchanges (DEXs). It’s like they’re all running for the hills.”
Unlike previous Kimchi premium surges, which were fueled by retail FOMO (fear of missing out), this spike is more like a passive reaction to the general market jitters. An increasingly strong U.S. dollar is also playing a role, because, you know, the dollar’s like the Beyoncé of currencies right now. It just gets more powerful with each album release.
Park also pointed out that the Kimchi premium can spike when trading volume rises, and it can act as a cushion when Bitcoin prices drop overseas. But, he’s also saying that the return of the Kimchi premium in a weakening market? Red flag. Major red flag. Like, maybe it’s time to ditch the crypto and invest in a good pair of waterproof wellies.
The crypto market is basically a giant mess right now, with over $2.23 billion in liquidations in the last 24 hours. This was triggered by, get this, U.S. President Donald Trump announcing new tariffs on imported goods. Canada, Mexico, and China are, like, “Oh, great, another thing to worry about.” It’s a global bloodbath, basically.
Investors panicked, driving market volatility through the roof. On-chain data revealed that 730,836 traders were liquidated, with long positions taking the biggest hit. A whopping $1.88 billion of trading was wiped out, while short liquidations reached a measly $358 million. Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange, had the biggest single liquidation order, with a $25.64 million Ethereum/Bitcoin trade forcibly closed.
Yikes. Those poor souls.
Bitcoin (BTC) Price Outlook
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2025-02-03 14:49