The Bitcoin price (BTC) has struggled recently as volatility grips the markets, mostly due to global conflicts, specifically events taking place in South Korea. However, the coin has rebounded to over $96.6K, a 1.5% increase from yesterday.
Last week, the Bitcoin price crashed to $91K but briefly broke past the $98K level on Friday. Bulls have brawled against bears as they control key price targets, pushing BTC back and forth.
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Bitcoin Price Suffers Volatility Amid South Korea’s Political Conflict
Over the weekend, BTC fluctuated between $96K and $97K, dipping below $95K on Monday before recovering to $97.5K. A brief drop to $93.5K followed due to the ongoing conflict in South Korea, but the coin managed to recover its $1.9 trillion market cap, though its dominance has slipped to 51.3%.
Source: CoinMarketCap
Anyway, what’s going on in South Korea? Well, no one really knows. The country is basically grappling with a political crisis following President Yoon Suk Yeol’s martial law declaration (and further reversal).
Yoon said the opposition Democratic party has ties and affinity with North Korean government officials, speculating about anti-state actions, allegedly. So, what does that have to do with Bitcoin?
Well, the declaration of martial law in South Korea affected cryptocurrency markets on Asian exchanges due to increased market volatility and the “Kimchi premium, which reflects the price difference between cryptos on South Korean exchanges and global platforms.
Therefore, during the civil unrest, the Bitcoin price on South Korean exchanges dropped sharply, creating arbitrage opportunities as prices were much lower than on global platforms. For instance, Bitcoin fell to $61,200 on South Korea’s Upbit exchange while trading around $95,000 on Coinbase and Binance.
Altcoins on the Rise
TRX, the coin behind the TRON ecosystem, is having its day, reaching a new all-time high of $0.43, a nearly threefold increase in value, making it the top-performing cryptocurrency of the day.
Source: CoinMarketCap
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Binance Coin (BNB) also hit a record high, nearing $800. Other large-cap cryptocurrencies, including AVAX, TON, DOT, BCH, ETC, and FIL, saw significant gains, while Ethereum rose by over 3% to exceed $3,700. The total cryptocurrency market capitalization increased by $60 billion in a single day, reaching a new high of over $3.73 trillion.