FILE PHOTO: Representation of bitcoin cryptocurrency is seen in this illustration taken January 11, 2024. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File PhotoTraders in South Korea, China and other Asian countries are responsible for roughly 70% of bitcoin trading volumes, much like they were in 2021 when bitcoin last hit such heady highs, according to crypto exchange data from The Block.
"I want to buy some bitcoin at a good price and hold," Mia Wang, a finance industry employee based in China's eastern province of Zhejiang, told Reuters."It has jumped a lot and is expensive now, but I worry it won't have any correction." The legality of trading and owning of bitcoin varies across Asian jurisdictions, ranging from Japan which has comparatively liberal regulations to China where there's a ban. Spot bitcoin ETFs are banned in South Korea, but local brokers offer easy access to bitcoin futures ETFs.South Korea commands a 10% share of the bitcoin cash tokens and listed futures markets, estimates Hong Song-uk, a cryptocurrency analyst at NH Investment & Securities.
Bitcoin trading volumes on Upbit roughly trebled to 67,000 coins last week versus the previous week, the South Korean exchange said.