Korean won tops US dollar and leads in crypto trading volume for Q1

[bbc.reporter]

Similar to many of you, I always wait for cryptonews news updates on the occurrences and developments in Hong Kong and Shanghai. However, we might be looking at the wrong jurisdictions. South Korea appears that it might be the biggest supporter of the cryptospace in Asia. The regulations on the cryptospace being created there might give us an important source of information.



The South Korean Won (KRW) has emerged as the leading currency for crypto trading in the first quarter of 2024, outstripping the US Dollar (USD) in cumulative trade volume, according to a report by research firm Kaiko. This marks the highest trade volume for Korean markets in over two years, achieved in early March. The rise in volume is attributed to the improving macroeconomic environment and intense competition among Korean exchanges.

Read in full https://cryptobriefing.com/korean-crypto-trading-surge/

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[Oshosondy]

It is not a surprise because South Korean won has been the second on the list right from time. But did you know that stable coins are not included? If stable coins are included, US dollar will dominate. Because of this, I will still see US dollar at the top.

[bbc.reporter]

@Oshosondy. If stablecoins are not included, I reckon this clearly creates a stronger argument that the Korean Won will be the biggest supporter and pumper of the cryptospace market in Asia. My argument is not who is no.1, it is if the Korean won will be the biggest pumper in Asia or not and this certainly implies that the next Asian pump will be K Pump heheheheh. However, let us wait for the next market updates from China. Hong Kong has approved their spot ETF for Bitcoin and Ethereum.

[yhiaali3]

But I think this is only in Asian exchanges and not in global exchanges. I mean that most global exchanges rely primarily on the dollar, and the South Korean won (KRW) is not common on these exchanges because most users prefer the dollar as it is the dominant currency in the world.

The South Korean Won (KRW) is a strong currency because the South Korean economy is a strong and prosperous economy and can be dominant in Asian exchanges, but it is not as common in global exchange as the dollar, the euro, or even the Chinese yuan, so I do not think it can be a competitor to the dollar.

[stompix]

@Oshosondy. If stablecoins are not included, I reckon this clearly creates a stronger argument that the Korean Won will be the biggest supporter and pumper of the cryptospace market in Asia. My argument is not who is no.1, it is if the Korean won will be the biggest pumper in Asia or not and this certainly implies that the next Asian pump will be K Pump heheheheh.

There are a ton of things in that bag of salt you need to take the news with
- first, it's about USD not really being traded on most exchanges since it's obviously easier to deal with USDT
- Korea is a locked country, taking money or coins out of there is way more difficult than anywhere
- all those exchanges are playing with zero fees, so the volume is not comparable as it allows you to close positions on 1% gains
- those exchanges don't offer crypto<>usdt pair or anything else, only krw, the only expectation is krw<>usdt
- despite that, ironically the biggest volume on bithumb is indeed usdt<>krw

[Wind_FURY]

Is South Korea looking for a safe-haven through Bitcoin? Because there were economists and geo-political analysts that were making negative projections on the effect of the U.S. CHIPS Act on the manufacturers of semi-conductors in Asia, including South Korea.

https://eastasiaforum.org/2023/11/26/us-chips-act-threatens-to-hollow-out-asian-semiconductor-industry/

Gold demand is also surging. Perhaps some nation-states expect a financial collapse? It might not start in the U.S., it might start in Asia.

[Ambatman]

Is South Korea looking for a safe-haven through Bitcoin? Because there were economists and geo-political analysts that were making negative projections on the effect of the U.S. CHIPS Act on the manufacturers of semi-conductors in Asia, including South Korea.

https://eastasiaforum.org/2023/11/26/us-chips-act-threatens-to-hollow-out-asian-semiconductor-industry/

Gold demand is also surging. Perhaps some nation-states expect a financial collapse? It might not start in the U.S., it might start in Asia.

Maybe is due to the fear of the unknown (war)
Nobody knows when the next World War would take place and also the current economical turmoil.
Gold is always at the highest unrest when the economy is facing issues (inflation) and falls when it's relatively stable.

[url-https://www.coingecko.com/en/exchanges/bithumb] the biggest volume[/url] on bithumb is indeed usdt<>krw

The URL is broken. You used - instead of = and I tried the link and coingecko is showing the page could not be found.   🕶

[adaseb]

I find this hard to believe. The Korean won is not traded on many exchanges and how can it have more trading volume than the US dollar, it doesn’t make sense at all.

I am just going to assume that on a Korean exchange their native currency has more trading volume than the US dollar, this I can believe.

[AVE5]

I don't know if I'd say congratulations to the Koreans lol, but I know that the US is not flawless to when we talk about trade or adoption volume of cryptos.
I'm not a fan to whoever emerges to the top crown. I'm only devoted to o appreciate the facts that crypto is indeed gaining strong height in the global attributes .

[stompix]

the biggest volume on bithumb is indeed usdt<>krw

The URL is broken. You used - instead of = and I tried the link and coingecko is showing the page could not be found.   🕶

Fixed!

Maybe is due to the fear of the unknown (war)
Nobody knows when the next World War would take place and also the current economical turmoil.

It's capital control, SK has always been an oddball when it comes to crypto, you can't take money out of there you can't withdraw Bitcoin to a non kyc wallet from the big 4 exchanges, fees are near zero, a lot of stuff that stops arbitrage, inflates artificially some pairs and so on.
SK and the kimchi premium is how SBBF has made millions early in his career.

[bbc.reporter]

I have not checked on the updated data on the volume comparison between the total cryptospace trading volume and stock market volume in South Korea, however, during March and May of 2021 the volume in the cryptospace traded in Korean Won in their jurisdiction was higher than their stock market volume.

I have heard that this is presently something similar again but I have not seen this data. I only see people in social media mention this. It might only be fake news, however.

[slaman29]

I think that will happen more and more tho. I mean, the first adopters will buy with fiat, but after that, maybe they keep trading in crypto-crypto, or even other currencies. I know a lot of Indonesians and Filipinos now stop using rupiah or peso, which by the way are hitting ATH vs USD, they prefer to exchange to SGD, which is also ATH vs all other regional fiat currencies.

So I would pay less attention in some places to fiat denomination, at least give it less meaning

Still it's a nice find. Poor Korea, they have done many things and we remember them of Kpop lol

[poodle63]

well i've seen that korean people are so invested into cryptocurrencies going as far as trading it very frequently and also they are among the top nation to invest into the newer projects as I've seen so far.
its no wonder that they are leading crypto trading volume, personally i've also subscribed to many korean telegram channel about trading insights and signal for so on, not necessarily to follow it but to gain insight into what korean people are actually trading.
I'm not realy sure whether korean tops the US dollar, but they are indeed among the most dominating when it comes to crypto trading.
regardless though we still need the good news to be coming from shang hai and hongkong to make market move.

it'd be great if other asian countries are also being competitive in cryptocurrency field, there are so many things to explore so that entire world could participate into the development of cryptocurrencies in general, south korean has done it, other can too.

[electronicash]

I find this hard to believe. The Korean won is not traded on many exchanges and how can it have more trading volume than the US dollar, it doesn’t make sense at all.

I am just going to assume that on a Korean exchange their native currency has more trading volume than the US dollar, this I can believe.

it's surprising. none in Asia is using KRW except them. people are using more Rupee and Yuan.
KRW is just for them. it's till the USDT that will dominate but in Asia, each country will be using their own local currency in trading. this is how it must be unless there is no local exchange in a country. however, we all are going to binance.com where stablecoins are widely used.

if all exchanges are open for anyone to use stablecoin of any local currency i think we could all navigate whichever country we go. Australia is about to launch its ETF afaik so we'll see if how huge is AUD.