Bitcoin Kimchi Premium Spikes as South Korea's Political Turmoil Escalates

South Koreans are paying a full 3% more to buy BTC$102,731.45 than their U.S. counterparts as they seek protection from the plummeting won, CryptoQuant data show.

Priced in won, the largest cryptocurrency is valued at 145,000,000 ($98,600) on the country's largest crypto exchange, Upbit. That compares with about $96,700 on Coinbase (COIN).

The move follows a vote by the South Korean parliament to impeach Han Duck-soo, the prime minister and acting president, just weeks after impeaching President Yoon Suk Yeol. The won slumped to a 15-year low against the dollar.

"This unfolding saga is fundamentally about election fraud and the erosion of trust in South Korea’s National Election Commission (NEC)," said Jeff Park, head of alpha strategies at investment manager Bitwise, in a post on X. "The use of impeachment as a political tool, combined with allegations of foreign election interference, underscores the fragility of democracy in the face of disinformation. This is not just a Korean story; it’s a warning for democracies worldwide."

UPDATE (Dec. 30, 08:32 UTC): Adds dropped word "to" in third paragraph.