Markets Update: Exchange News from South Korea Brings the Bitcoin Bears

Markets Update: Exchange News from South Korea Brings the Bitcoin Bears

Cryptocurrency prices are sliding downwards since our last markets update, as the top ten digital assets are all seeing a loss of gains on January 8. BTC/USD markets reached a high of $17,200 on Saturday evening on January 6, but the value has dropped since then to a low of $13,900 per BTC. The price has since rebounded and is hovering between $14,800-$15,050 during this afternoon’s trading sessions.


FUD from South Korea and Coinmarketcap Data Brings a Price Storm

Bitcoin markets have seen a two-day decline since reaching its high of $17,200 this past Saturday. Yesterday afternoon the decentralized currency hovered just above the $16K zone, dipping to the $15,800 range a few times. On Monday, January 8, the price of BTC has sunk further taking most other digital asset markets with it. During the early trading sessions, (EDT) bitcoin prices touched $13,900 with around $15.8Bn in 24-hour trade volume. Many traders and cryptocurrency enthusiasts are blaming this week’s tumble on South Korea and its officials inspecting local banks tied to digital asset trading platforms.


Today the U.S. dollar is the top currency traded with BTC commanding 37 percent at the time of writing. This is followed by the Japanese yen (35%), tether (USDT 9%), and the South Korean won has dropped considerably to 4.7 percent. A few days ago when markets were more bullish, tether USDTs were averaging approximately $1, but since today’s dip, USDT is now $1.02. Additionally, tether has the third highest digital currency volume worldwide at the moment which happens consistently during dips.

Another thing to note is the cryptocurrency website Coinmarketcap has dropped South Korean exchanges from its aggregated global price averages. The website has left an asterisk next to each price that states “* Price Excluded.” Coinmarketcap dropping South Korean exchanges has made the website’s price data fall by over 100 billion, as the total valuation of all markets is only $721Bn after reaching a high of $850Bn.