On Sunday, crypto exchanges in Korea saw a trading volume of 12 trillion won, exceeding Friday’s stock market tally of 11.47 trillion won. It’s becoming more popular for Koreans to invest in other assets like altcoins instead of major assets like Bitcoin or Ethereum. Another notable development, BlackRock’s spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) has surpassed MicroStrategy’s cryptocurrency holdings in terms of performance.
Crypto trading surges in South Korea
Crypto trading has been fueled by the surge in BTC prices in South Korea, surpassing stock market trading volumes last week. Trading volumes on South Korea-based crypto exchanges hit a record 11.8 trillion won on Sunday, exceeding Friday’s stock trading volume of 11.47 trillion won.
Top five crypto markets on Upbit were the won-traded pairs of bitcoin, space id, IQ Protocol’s IQ, 0x’s ZRX, and shiba inu. According to local market observers, the larger volume in the crypto market reflects an increased risk tolerance among Korean investors.
“Koreans favor high-risk, high-return investments because they experienced a rapidly growing economy,” noted Ki Young-Ju, founder of on-chain provider CryptoQuant. “With the increasing wealth gap, more people are turning to such investments, with altcoins being the preferred choice over major assets like BTC or ETH” he added.
Despite trading at a higher markup on Korean exchanges compared to global counterparts, bitcoin, ether, and other tokens continue to witness strong retail demand. Bradley Park, head of research at CryptoQuant, explained that the “kimchi premium” is at its highest since the Luna crash in May 2022, signaling strong retail demand as Korean investors are willing to pay a premium for Bitcoin.
Furthermore, Park said Upbit’s daily trading volume has been high since March, indicating continuous retail inflows. ‘Kimchi premium’ refers to the difference in Bitcoin prices on Korean exchanges compared to global exchanges with Bitcoin trading at a 10% premium in South Korea.
BlackRock surpasses Grayscale in BTC ETF holdings
In a recent development, BitMEX Research revealed that BlackRock’s IBIT now holds approximately 197,943 BTC, valued at over $13.5 billion as of March 8. This increase in holdings comes after the United States Securities and Exchange Commission approved nine new funds on Jan 10. Excluding Grayscale’s GBTC, the collective assets of newly launched Bitcoin ETFs amount to $28 billion, showcasing a surge in institutional demand for crypto. This demand has propelled Bitcoin’s price to surpass the $70,000 mark on March 8.
MicroStrategy, a technology company that is not an ETF issuer, has created a collection of 193,000 BTC as part of its corporate treasury strategy. MicroStrategy uses a leverage operating strategy by borrowing to fund its operations and investments.
To boost its Bitcoin reserves, MicroStrategy is taking a debt offering to the tune of $600m. This move is what has seen MicroStrategy’s stock being referred to as “a leveraged Bitcoin ETF,” leading to its stock price posting an incredible 642% gain in just twelve months compared with Bitcoins’ 244% gains over the same period.
