Why Is Cryptocurrency Trading Popular In South Korea?

IMAGE CREDIT: WIT OLSZEWSKI/SHUTTERSTOCK

The Cryptocurrency Scenario In South Korea

With a revive in the cryptocurrency market, investors are very keen on taking special note of their performance in a few key markets, south Korea being one of them. 

Emerging as one of the top markets for cryptocurrencies this Asian country has enabled South Koreans responsible for a third of all Bitcoin trades as they keep occurring. The customers for cryptocurrencies span a broad age range and profile. As they paid “kimchi premiums” which comes as a reference to inflated prices, to invest in cryptocurrencies. At one point of time, the influence in crypto markets was such that they accounted for as much as 17 percent of all Ethereum trades occurring in cryptocurrency markets. One of the other popular currency in the country, Ripple has crashed after a popular site aggregating crypto exchange listing did not include trading data from South Korea. 

How Is South Korea Attracted To Cryptocurrencies?

Being analyzed by several newspapers, the articles, and reports, describe the affinity of South Koreans for cryptocurrencies coming up with theories for the popularity, broadly condensed into three following theories:

The First And Foremost Reason:

The prevailing economic conditions in the country are the first reason for the popularity of cryptocurrencies. The South Korean economy despite suffering from a youth unemployment problem, is a fairly large and prosperous one. The unemployment rate of South Koreans has soared to new heights of 9.8 %. The government unveiled the program to provide incentives to small and medium-sized enterprises to hire young workers in response to the high numbers. As a hierarchical societal configuration, expensive living cost and a fiercely competitive employment market that does not help the matter. 
 
According to an article on the online publication The Verge, cryptocurrency seems like a rare shot at prosperity for young Koreans. It quotes a 20-something journalist saying that cryptocurrency investments come as a means for a homogeneous and well-educated workforce distinguishing themselves from peers.

The Reasons Following Secondly:

Another reason for the popularity of cryptocurrencies is familiarity with micropayment transactions. As they have long been early adopters of technological innovation, be it social networks or video games, South Koreans have become the winners. It comes with the world’s fastest internet speeds as well as a well-developed telecommunication system facilitating mobile payment systems. With a similar story, Japan is another big cryptocurrency trading nation.

South Koreans are comfortable with electronic micropayments as a robust gaming industry comes with the idea that it is yet to take hold in the West. An example is the Hangame, a Korean gaming company with revenues of $30,000 per day on micropayments of 50 cents while the online casual gaming was mostly free. The same company earned $80,000 per day by the end of the year and within three years, it hit $93 million per year in revenues. 

Finally, as the businesses crop up around the games, it includes black markets as cryptocurrency-related businesses are yet to see similar revenue that is not stretched to imagine the figures in the future once the government has put appropriate regulations in place. 

The Final Reason To Be Considered:

The third and last reason is the political uncertainty prevailing. North Korea, the neighbor of South Korea, categorized as a ‘rogue nation’ has recently launched a nuclear device. Reports come making clear Bitcoin’s stateless status appeals to investors who are wary of the intentions of North Korea. As a popular form of investment, cryptocurrencies work as charges against the country’s former president were building up. 

Concluding Words

For South Korean investors, this is a combination of political uncertainty, familiarity with micropayment systems and economic problems as cryptocurrencies are an attractive option. As an early adopter of key world-transforming technologies, South Korea is always at the forefront of dynamic situations. The country is sure to lead the way by incorporating cryptocurrencies into mainstream trading helping gain momentum in this field.

As the cryptocurrency market keeps evolving, there is a quiet uncertainty featuring in the world with the rogue nation procuring nuclear weapons and the possibilities of building an increasing chance of cryptocurrency investment. With developing the infrastructure for the best cryptocurrency market, South Korea is sure to hit the target within the stipulated time. With most of the investment being made in this form, there is nothing that the crypto giants can do. 

With these facts, South Korea is surely set to take over other crypto giants and make a place of their own in the industry. Way to go South Korea.