FOMO

Bitcoin

<ul>
 <li>The Korea Premium Index reached levels similar to the time when Bitcoin hit its peak in November 2021.</li>
 <li>Korean retail investors were willing to pay a premium for Bitcoin’s purchase.</li>
</ul>
<a href="https://ambcrypto.com/category/bitcoin-news/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" data-wpel-link="internal">Bitcoin’s [BTC]</a> demand in the U.S., the biggest financial center of the world, increased manifold even as institutional investors in the country started placing their bets on the coin owing to spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs) hype.
More than 6,400 miles (ca. 10,300 km) away, an Asian country had a similar thirst for Bitcoin, except this time it was driven by retail investors.
<h4>Korean traders amp up demand for Bitcoin</h4>
Bitcoin’s Korean Premium Index, an important barometer of the South Korean market’s buying power, soared dramatically in December.
As per AMBCrypto’s analysis of CryptoQuant, the index has reached levels similar to the time when Bitcoin hit its peak in November 2021.
<div id="attachment_360696" style="width: 100%" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://statics.ambcrypto.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Bitcoin-Korea-Premium-Index-EMA-14.png" data-wpel-link="internal" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-360696" decoding="async" class="size-full wp-image-360696" src="https://statics.ambcrypto.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Bitcoin-Korea-Premium-Index-EMA-14.png" alt="" width="2560" height="1612" srcset="https://statics.ambcrypto.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Bitcoin-Korea-Premium-Index-EMA-14.png 2560w, https://statics.ambcrypto.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Bitcoin-Korea-Premium-Index-EMA-14-300x189.png 300w, https://statics.ambcrypto.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Bitcoin-Korea-Premium-Index-EMA-14-1024x645.png 1024w, https://statics.ambcrypto.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Bitcoin-Korea-Premium-Index-EMA-14-768x484.png 768w, https://statics.ambcrypto.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Bitcoin-Korea-Premium-Index-EMA-14-1536x967.png 1536w, https://statics.ambcrypto.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Bitcoin-Korea-Premium-Index-EMA-14-2048x1290.png 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px"></a>
 Source: CryptoQuant
</div>
Korea Premium Index, also popularly known as the Kimchi Premium, is the percent difference between the market price of Korean exchanges and other exchanges.
For the uninitiated, the Korean <span data-slate-fragment="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">market is mostly made up of retail investors due to regulations against institutional investors.
This is a historical phenomenon and is driven by a high demand for cryptos in the country.
As evident, the index was positive, implying that retail investors were&nbsp;willing to pay a premium for the purchase. Moreover, the rising trend signaled that more and more traders were willing to buy Bitcoins at a higher price.
<h4>Korean exchanges see a surge in Bitcoin trading</h4>
Over the past 24 hours, BTC was the <a href="https://www.coingecko.com/en/exchanges/upbit" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" data-wpel-link="external">third most-traded asset</a> on Upbit, the country’s largest exchange, according to CoinGecko. Moreover, the BTC/KRW pair accounted for over 7% of the exchange’s total trading volume.
On the other hand, the pair captured a whopping <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/exchanges/bithumb/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" data-wpel-link="external">48%</a> of the total volume on Bithumb, another major crypto trading platform in the East Asian nation.
The indicator, according to a Cryptoquant <a href="https://twitter.com/cryptoquant_com/status/1739461617199481302?s=46&amp;t=FWbEKhGoeI1DuE4sfw_CFw" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" data-wpel-link="external">researcher</a>, provides key signals concerning price tops. They attributed this to Koreans’ access to cash to buy coins on exchanges and the FOMO hype.
Read&nbsp;<a href="https://ambcrypto.com/predictions/bitcoin-price-prediction" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" data-wpel-link="internal">Bitcoin’s [BTC] Price Prediction</a>&nbsp;2023-24
While the current level was similar to Bitcoin’s peak, it remained to be seen if there is a correction on the way or Bitcoin would continue to fly higher.
As of this writing, BTC moved in the $42,000 region, with losses of 1.33% in the last 24 hours, according to <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/bitcoin/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" data-wpel-link="external">CoinMarketCap</a>.

Bitcoin: Korean market shows strong appetite for the king coin

AMBCrypto

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