[Bitcoin Now] New All-Time High Amid Exchange Delisting News... Approaching 80 Million Won

Sharp rebound in 3 days... Achieves new high of 79.6 million KRW
Following US Coinbase, Kraken also plans listing... Korean Upbit under review

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Gong Byung-sun] Bitcoin, the representative virtual currency (cryptocurrency) that recently fell to the 68 million KRW range, hit an all-time high over the weekend. It appears that the consecutive listing attempts by U.S. cryptocurrency exchanges acted as a positive factor.

According to the domestic cryptocurrency exchange Upbit on the 12th, Bitcoin recorded an all-time high of 79.6 million KRW at 2:01 PM on the 10th, up 4.6% from the previous day. Bitcoin had dropped from 79.42 million KRW to 68.5 million KRW in just one day on the 7th but rebounded to the 79 million KRW range within three days. As of 1:41 PM on the same day, it was trading at 78.54 million KRW.

The attempt by the U.S. cryptocurrency exchange Kraken to list on the U.S. stock market is interpreted as having a positive impact. Kraken is a large exchange with over 6 million users. It has shown growth, with users increasing more than fourfold in the first quarter of this year compared to the second half of last year. On the 8th (local time), Jesse Powell, CEO of Kraken, said in an interview with U.S. economic media CNBC, “Kraken has grown significantly thanks to the rise in Bitcoin,” and “We are preparing for a direct listing on the U.S. stock market targeting next year.” A direct listing means that the company going public sells shares directly to investors without going through an investment bank’s initial public offering (IPO). In the case of a direct listing, there are no fees from investment banks, and the offering price can be set relatively freely.

Starting with the large U.S. cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase, exchanges are consecutively attempting listings. Coinbase is scheduled to be listed on Nasdaq on the 14th. It is about to become the first listed company among U.S. exchanges. On the 9th of last month, U.S. economic media Bloomberg valued Coinbase’s corporate value at about 101 trillion KRW based on its shares trading at $350 (approximately 390,000 KRW) per share in the Nasdaq over-the-counter market. Following this news, stocks of companies holding shares in Dunamu, the operator of the domestic cryptocurrency exchange Upbit?such as Kakao, Woori Technology Investment, and Atinum Investment?also surged sharply in the domestic stock market recently. Dunamu is also reportedly pursuing a U.S. listing, and Upbit’s trading volume is comparable to that of Coinbase.

Meanwhile, there are forecasts that the Bitcoin bullish trend will continue this month as well. Christopher Wood, head of global strategy at U.S. securities firm Jefferies, claimed this in a report titled “Greed and Fear” on the 9th. He predicted that the Bitcoin uptrend would be steep as the Group of Seven (G7) countries still prefer monetary easing policies and institutional investors are entering the market. Jefferies participated in the cryptocurrency market last December by partially selling gold and replacing it with Bitcoin in its investment list for long-term investors.