Bitcoin kimchi premium spikes to 2022 high before dropping to 3%

South Korea’s kimchi premium dropped to around 3.39% on Wednesday after climbing up to its highest since December, 6.28%, on Tuesday, according to CryptoQuant data.

Fast facts

• Kimchi premium describes the higher price gap between tokens on South Korean exchanges and compared to the global average.

• A rise in the kimchi premium often means the limited local Bitcoin supply isn’t able to cope with rising surging demand. 

• Cryptocurrency prices on the peninsula are often higher than that of global averages as foreign investors are barred from using local exchanges, and purchasing crypto in overseas exchanges is punishable by law. 

• Bitcoin in South Korea had a 50% premium in 2018. 
• Bitcoin’s price fell below the US$30,000 mark briefly on Tuesday amid overall decline in the cryptocurrency markets.