Bitcoin breaks 128 million won in unprecedented Korean crypto frenzy

Bitcoin prices surged at a breakneck pace as traders bet on President-elect Donald Trump's strong advocacy for digital assets, pushing the cryptocurrency past 128 million won ($90,872) on Korea's largest cryptocurrency exchange.

The price of Bitcoin is displayed on a screen at the Upbit Lounge in Gangnam District, southern Seoul, on Tuesday. [YONHAP]

Bitcoin prices surged at a breakneck pace as traders bet on President-elect Donald Trump's strong advocacy for digital assets, pushing the cryptocurrency past 128 million won ($90,872) at peak trading on Korea's largest cryptocurrency exchange.

The digital asset was trading at 127.05 million won on Upbit as of 6 p.m., more than double the 57.05 million won logged at 9 a.m. on Jan. 1, and 127.01 million won Bithumb. It reached 128 million won on Upbit around 4 p.m.

The global price stood at $89,352 on Binance, just below the all-time high of $89,599 it hit on Tuesday. A growing optimism for a second Donald Trump administration continues to drive the rally. The President-elect was a strong advocate for digital assets, including Bitcoin, during his presidential campaign.

The combined trading volume of Korea’s five largest cryptocurrency exchanges — Upbit, Bithumb, Coinone, Korbit and Gopax — over the past 24 hours amounted to an unprecedented 26.91 trillion won as of 5:50 p.m. on Tuesday, according to data compiled by CoinMarketCap.

Upbit, the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the country, took the majority, representing 70 percent of the total, or 18.83 trillion won. Bithumb ranked second at 7.61 trillion won, or 28.3 percent.

That day, the total trading volume of Korea’s stock exchanges — including the benchmark Kospi and secondary Kosdaq — stood at 19.86 trillion won, meaning that the trading volume of digital assets surpassed that of stocks in Korea by a wide margin of 7 trillion won.

While the steep upward curve is fueling concerns of an overheating market, Sangsangin Investment & Securities analyst Kim Kyeong-tae believes Bitcoin's peak may still be ahead.

“If the price goes over the $100,000 mark, that is when we really need to be cautious — but it seems like we have not yet touched ceilings,” suggested Kim, noting that “whales,” or institutional investors, are still buying Bitcoin.

However, it is still early to tell if the current price level will become a new normal or will continue moving in the short term, as the impact of Trump's victory has yet to settle, Kim added.

BY SHIN HA-NEE [shin.hanee@joongang.co.kr]