South Korea sees $34B crypto surge amid martial law and trader panic

South Korea experienced an unprecedented 24 hours as crypto trading volumes soared to a record $34.2 billion. The dramatic surge coincided with President Yoon Suk-yeol’s late-night declaration of emergency martial law on Tuesday (Dec. 3), citing threats to democracy from “anti-state” forces.

The announcement fueled panic among traders, driving crypto activity on platforms like Upbit, Bithumb, and Coinone to levels surpassing South Korea’s Kospi equity index—a milestone not seen since Donald Trump’s election victory. Upbit dominated the trading frenzy, processing an astounding $27.25 billion of the total.

Data from CoinMarketCap revealed that Upbit, Bithumb, Coinone, Korbit, and Gopax collectively handled $34.2 billion in crypto trading volume in the 24 hours leading up to 10:30 a.m. local time on Wednesday (Dec. 4).

Korean crypto market just experienced a flash crash, BTC on Upbit plunged to $61k, and many alts dropped 30-40%, while the global market remained stable. This serves as an intriguing data pt of how isolated fiat liquidity could react, especially under extreme conditions like a… pic.twitter.com/7WrZXSTKoP

— Dovey "Rug the fiat" Wan (hiring) (@DoveyWan) December 3, 2024

The panic selling in South Korea stood in contrast to the global market sentiment. On international platforms, Bitcoin prices remained stable, showing how local market dynamics can diverge from global trends. However, on South Korea’s Upbit exchange, Bitcoin prices tumbled to 88 million won ($62,182) before rebounding as martial law was lifted, according to local news reports.

President Yoon’s martial law, which lasted only six hours, was overturned after lawmakers convened a late-night emergency session and unanimously voted to annul it. The opposition Democratic Party of Korea announced plans to file sedition charges against President Yoon, the Minister of Defense, and other involved officials.

In addition, they declared their plans to pursue impeachment proceedings, arguing that the martial law declaration was unconstitutional.

There's now a 65% chance South Korea's President is ousted in 2024.

The odds have doubled since noon. pic.twitter.com/JKxolRpa30

— Polymarket (@Polymarket) December 3, 2024

Meanwhile, the decentralized prediction platform Polymarket reflected the growing uncertainty, with fluctuating odds on bets about President Yoon’s potential removal from office this year. At one point, it hit 78% before stabilizing at 47% and he would be ousted. While his term is scheduled to run until May 2027, escalating political tensions have cast doubt on his ability to serve out his full term.

ReadWrite has previously reported the blockchain-based prediction platform’s massive success after correctly forecasting Trump’s win in the U.S. presidential election, hence this remains to be seen.

Featured image: Canva / Government of Japan via Wikicommons

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