[Bitcoin Now] Surpasses 20 Million Won Again... Will It Set a New Record?

Rising Over 30% This Month... Kospi's Increase More Than Twice as High

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[Asia Economy Reporter Minwoo Lee] The price of Bitcoin, the leading cryptocurrency, recovered to the 20 million KRW range just four days after dropping to the 18 million KRW range. Attention is focused on whether the recent upward trend will set a new all-time high.

According to Upbit, a domestic cryptocurrency exchange, as of 1:55 PM on the 30th, the price of Bitcoin recorded 20.25 million KRW, up 1.30% compared to 24 hours earlier. After reaching an all-time high of 21.46 million KRW on the 25th, it fell to the 18 million KRW range the next day but recovered to the 20 million KRW level within four days.

The price of Bitcoin has risen 30.7% since the beginning of this month. Compared to the KOSPI index, which rose about 14% during the same period, this is more than twice as steep. In particular, analysts say this rise is qualitatively different from the 2017-2018 surge. While the earlier surge was driven mainly by individuals amid a 'coin frenzy,' the recent rise is seen as being led by institutions.

Major foreign media outlets such as the Financial Times (FT) explain that institutional investors and other 'big players' are moving into Bitcoin due to increased taxation efforts by major countries including the U.S. and the burden of rising stock markets. Additionally, as the institutional sector and various companies increasingly adopt cryptocurrencies, this is interpreted as not just a simple price increase but an increase in value.

A representative example is the decision by the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) in late July to allow major banks such as Bank of America, Citibank, and Goldman Sachs to provide custody services for virtual assets like Bitcoin. This decision enables U.S. banks to custody virtual assets similarly to financial assets such as stocks and bonds or tangible assets like real estate. This marks a stark contrast to the past when regulatory bodies like the Federal Reserve (Fed) were extremely cautious due to concerns about money laundering.

The private sector is also moving quickly. Last month, PayPal, a simple payment service provider, added cryptocurrency trading functions and announced that by early next year, it will support payments in four cryptocurrencies?Bitcoin, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash, and Litecoin?at all online merchants by the end of the year. PayPal is the world's largest simple payment company with 350 million users and 26 million merchants worldwide. Traditional financial sectors are also paying attention to Bitcoin. Since May, the largest U.S. investment bank JP Morgan has been providing banking services to major cryptocurrency exchanges Coinbase and Gemini.