The cryptocurrency market has had a turbulent week, with the leading cryptocurrency Bitcoin slumping by 14% on the global crypto markets. This slide saw Bitcoin trading at $52,144 earlier today. But this obvious volatility seems to be swinging anti-clockwise in the South Korean crypto market as Bitcoin is being sold at a premium on local exchanges like Bithumb and Korbit. According to local reports, BTC is changing hands at as much as $65,882 on Korean crypto exchanges.

Bitcoin is selling at an 18.6% premium in South Korea. 

Head of business development in Asia for decentralized protocol, Maker Doo Wan Nam, notes that the growing restrictions on money circulation in the local economy play a role in the disparity in Bitcoin prices on local crypto exchanges. In the same period, 1 BTC to the US dollars was trading for $55,553 after the market rallied on global crypto exchanges Binance and Coinbase. But the premium price at which it is traded in South Korea saw an 18.6% difference in the same timeframe.

Koreans love this dip too.

Kimchi premium shot up to 25% and now is at 20%. pic.twitter.com/OSGh64iwaO

— Lex Moskovski (@mskvsk) April 18, 2021

Stablecoins pegged to the US dollar are also selling at a high premium. 

Stablecoins pegged to the US dollar are also selling with a high premium on few South Korean crypto exchanges that offer them. On Probit, USDT is trading for as high as $1.21 against the global trend of it being equal to the US dollar. Capital controls and financial regulations to check the outward flow of money has made the Kimchi premium a popular trend in Seoul as far back as 2016. These growing restrictions have seen the world’s oldest cryptocurrency become a goldmine as they have led to the inflation of BTC prices in the country. Earlier, popular South Korean crypto exchange Upbit imposed a 72-hour curfew on crypto withdrawals into local currency for crypto owners who are just making their first trades.