The South Korean won has hit its lowest point against the dollar since March 2009. As of December 27, 2024, South Koreans are paying a 3% premium over U.S. prices to buy bitcoin, according to data from CryptoQuant.
Right now, bitcoin (BTC) costs 145,000,000 won (about $98,600) on Upbit, the largest crypto exchange in South Korea. In comparison, it’s priced around $96,700 on Coinbase.
This price hike follows a recent vote by South Korea's parliament to impeach Han Duck-soo, the acting president and prime minister. This comes just weeks after they impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol. The won has slumped to a 15-year low against the dollar.
Jeff Park, who leads alpha strategies at Bitwise, shared his thoughts on social media. He believes this situation revolves around issues of election fraud and the declining trust in South Korea’s National Election Commission (NEC). He pointed out that using impeachment as a political tool, along with claims of foreign interference, shows how fragile democracies can be in the face of misinformation.
On the other hand, James Van Straten is a senior analyst at CoinDesk. He specializes in Bitcoin and its broader economic context. He previously worked as a research analyst at a Swiss hedge fund, where he learned about on-chain analytics. His focus is on tracking ETFs, spot and futures volumes, and flows to see how Bitcoin fits into the financial picture. Notably, he holds more than $1,000 in bitcoin, along with shares in MicroStrategy (MSTR) and Semler Scientific (SMLR).