Bitcoin Soars Again... Surging Above 17 Million Won

36% Surge in a Month
"Different from 2018"... Positive Signal for Currency Value

[Asia Economy Reporter Minji Lee] Bitcoin prices are soaring again. Bitcoin, which had not surpassed the 12 million KRW mark this year, surged about 36% in a month, recreating the Bitcoin frenzy from two years ago. This is analyzed to reflect expectations for policies under U.S. President-elect Joe Biden amid a continued weak dollar due to fiscal stimulus measures following the spread of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

According to the domestic cryptocurrency exchange Upbit as of 9 a.m. on the 12th, Bitcoin was traded at 17,444,000 KRW, up 0.03% (5,000 KRW) from the previous session. Considering that Bitcoin was at around 12,930,000 KRW on the 11th of last month, it surged 36% (4,600,000 KRW) in one month. On the 6th, it soared to 17,780,000 KRW during the session, marking the highest point of the year. This is the highest level in 2 years and 10 months since January 2018. ▶Related article page 2

Bitcoin also showed an upward trend on another cryptocurrency exchange, Bithumb. On this day, Bitcoin recorded 17,345,000 KRW, up 0.28% (48,000 KRW) from 24 hours earlier. Bitcoin started trading at around 15,600,000 KRW this month and rose about 11% in 12 trading days. The overseas market situation is similar to that of Korea. According to CoinMarketCap, an overseas cryptocurrency market data company, Bitcoin was traded at $15,663.82 (17,420,000 KRW) at the same time.

The highest price at which Bitcoin was traded domestically was around 29,000,000 KRW on January 5, 2018, based on Upbit. At that time, as the speculative frenzy over cryptocurrencies grew, the government introduced stringent regulations, and Bitcoin prices plummeted to the 3,000,000 KRW range. Last year, it barely recovered to the 10,000,000 KRW range and seemed to be on the rise, but it sharply dropped again to the 6,000,000 KRW range due to the spread of COVID-19 this year before recently recovering.

As Bitcoin, the representative cryptocurrency product, surged, other cryptocurrencies also showed an upward trend. Ethereum rose about 19% this month in Korea, Chainlink by 13%, and Litecoin by 10%. Cryptocurrency-related stocks are also rising accordingly. Woori Technology Investment, which holds shares in Dunamu, the operator of Upbit, surged about 31% this month. Vidente, which holds a 10% stake in Bithumb Korea, rose about 11% during the same period.