South Korea’s Kimchi premium turns to discount
South Korea’s "Kimchi premium" has flipped to a discount again, meaning cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin are now cheaper to buy on South Korean exchanges.
The phenomenon is named after the Korean dish kimchi. The Kimchi premium refers to when the price of Bitcoin (BTC) trades higher on South Korean exchanges than in other markets.
According to data from blockchain analytics provider CryptoQuant, the Korea Premium index has been shifting between the -0.24 and 0.01 range between Feb 17 and 19.
As of writing, data on CoinMarketCap shows BTC is trading at roughly $24,464 on Coinbase and $24,487 on Binance.
In comparison, Korean exchange Bithumb has it listed at $24,386 and one of the largest exchanges in South Korea Upbit has it listed at $24,405.
It's the same situation for the second largest crypto by market cap, Ethereum (ETH).
At time of writing, data on CoinMarketCap shows Coinbase has listed ETH at roughly $1,687 and Binance has it at $1,691, while Bithumb has listed ETH at $1,682 and Upbit at $1,683.
According to Doo Wan Nam, chief operating officer of node validator and venture capital fund Stablenode, the Kimchi premium changing to a discount marks a drop in interest from Korean retail investors.
"Generally it means fall in interest in crypto from Korean retail, which ironically is generally a better time to buy cause you know you can always sell yours to Korean gamblers for 20% premium later when they FOMO," he said.
Korean (Kimchi) Premium is now turned into Korean Discount Generally it means fall in interest in crypto from Korean retail, which ironically is generally a better time to buy cause you know you can always sell yours to Korean gamblers for 20% premium later when they FOMO pic.twitter.com/FFcvdi93PE
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