BTC
95,820.46
-0.45%
ETH
3,674.97
+0.68%
XRP
2.55
-8.05%
USDT
1.00
+0.04%
SOL
238.34
+4.50%
BNB
747.89
+14.27%
DOGE
0.41488397
-1.98%
ADA
1.21
-7.28%
USDC
1.00
-0.00%
STETH
3,676.12
+0.71%
TRX
0.38207093
+67.88%
AVAX
52.05
-0.42%
SHIB
0.0₄30168
+3.04%
TON
6.86
+3.49%
XLM
0.50923717
-6.98%
LINK
24.06
-1.43%
WBTC
95,649.36
-0.33%
HBAR
0.32420187
-15.23%
BCH
572.54
+6.03%
SUI
3.64
+8.16%
By Shaurya Malwa|Edited by Stephen Alpher
Dec 3, 2024, 2:31 p.m. UTC
Major crypto tokens quickly plunged as much as 30% against the Korean won on South Korean exchanges as the government declared emergency martial law late on Tuesday.
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol declared “emergency martial law,” accusing opposition parties of undermining the government, sympathizing with North Korea, and paralyzing the nation’s legislative process.
Story continues below
Negative sentiment spilled over to the crypto markets in the minutes following. Bitcoin, XRP — two of the most traded tokens by volumes on local exchanges — plunged as low as 30% on Upbit before quickly recovering. BTC fell from $96,000 to $63,000 in U.S. dollar terms, assuming current exchange rates.
In crypto circles, South Korean traders are known for pushing euphoric rallies on tokens, contributing to buying pressure and possibly influencing prices.
Trading volumes on local exchange Upbit sometimes exceed those of global counterparts Binance and Coinbase, indicative of the serious cash and activity around crypto in the nation.
Upbit and Bithumb, another major local exchange, have issued notices of a delay in site feeds and performance amid a surge of user activity following the martial law.
Shaurya is the Co-Leader of the CoinDesk tokens and data team in Asia with a focus on crypto derivatives, DeFi, market microstructure, and protocol analysis.
Shaurya holds over $1,000 in BTC, ETH, SOL, AVAX, SUSHI, CRV, NEAR, YFI, YFII, SHIB, DOGE, USDT, USDC, BNB, MANA, MLN, LINK, XMR, ALGO, VET, CAKE, AAVE, COMP, ROOK, TRX, SNX, RUNE, FTM, ZIL, KSM, ENJ, CKB, JOE, GHST, PERP, BTRFLY, OHM,
BANANA, ROME, BURGER, SPIRIT, and ORCA.
He provides over $1,000 to liquidity pools on Compound, Curve, SushiSwap, PancakeSwap, BurgerSwap, Orca, AnySwap, SpiritSwap, Rook Protocol, Yearn Finance, Synthetix, Harvest, Redacted Cartel, OlympusDAO, Rome, Trader Joe, and SUN.
