Last November the US dollar was Dethroned as the world currency most Traded for Bitcoin the culprit South Korea the Korean one flipped the dollar And led to a face melting rally that Pushed Bitcoin up 15% in a week although The dollar has since reclaimed the top Spot the ker one is still far ahead of All other Fiat currencies combined but How can a country so small Le such a big Footprint on the global crypto Market do They know something that we don't and What on Earth are they feeding the DG Over there well we invested South Korea's relationship with crypto and What we found was fascinating so stay Tuned to learn how Koreans are trading And why you should care if you you want To catch the next gem before they send It to valala this is a video that you Can't afford to Miss the events of last November make it Sound like every man woman and child in South Korea is a gigal long BTC but Unfortunately that's not the case According to government estimates around 6 million Koreans were actively trading Crypto last year that's a little shy of 12% of the population meaning that the Vast majority majority of Koreans are no Coiners depending on where you're from 12% might seem like a little or a lot It's a matter of perspective but if you Look at where crypto is being used most
Around the world you might be Surprised that's because in chain Analysis latest index of crypto adoption Around the world Korea ranked just 27th this does seem at odds with the Over representation of the Korean one in The global crypto Market It's A peculiar Contrast but not Inexplicable this index is designed to Highlight where the most people are Putting the greatest share of their Wealth into Cryptocurrency and not which countries Have the highest raw transaction Volumes that's why Korea scores lower Than say Pakistan turkey and Argentina Where BTC and stable coins are used Widely as a hedge against runaway Inflation The second reason for Korea's Comparatively low ranking is the Monopoly of centralized exchanges in the Country you see chain analysis uses an Aggregate of five different metrics and Three of them are based on Defi and P2P Activity in Korea around 70% of all Crypto activity is on Sexes this is far Above the global average of 48% meanwhile defi accounts for 44 4% of Global activity globally whereas it's Just 26% in Korea and Korea is Right 75th in the world for P2P activity we Suspect this score in particular may Have weighed down the overall ranking so
You can see how Korea ended up in 27th Place but don't let that statistic fool You though the 12% of Koreans who are on Crypto are clicking a lot of buttons Last year around 10% of the entire World's spot traded volume came from Upbit Korea's largest centralized Exchange to think that 12% of Korea's Population is responsible for 10% of the World's spot traded volume is pretty Mindboggling this is all the more so Since Korea's Market is mostly retail Driven last year just 23% of Korea's Crypto traded volume came from large Institutions compared to the global Average of 45% % that's largely because In order to make an account on a Centralized Exchange in Korea you need To have a specific type of bank account Tied to an individual Korean citizen This really limits the ability of Institutions to enter the crypto Market Through domestic Exchanges all of this is really just Another way of saying Korea has some Extremely busy retail Deens so let's Find out what makes them tick this is Chu a popular crypto streamer in Korea Here is Chu aping $150,000 into random coins on Stream back in 2021 now you don't have to speak Korean To figure out that cholo and his friends Aren't dishing out Financial advice here
This is degeneracy of the highest order And it attracts hundreds of thousands of Live viewers in Korea and millions of Plays on YouTube and by the way you see the guy In the white hoodie that's John bur Kim That's a pseudonym that can Loosely be Translated into hodle Kim he is a market Maker who's been described in Korea as a Crypto King known for flaunting his $65 Million collection of hypercars on Social media but Kim hasn't been online Much lately That's probably because he's in prison For alleged price fixing embezzlement Bribery and fraud at coin one Korea's Thirdd largest centralized exchange During the quinan investigation a court Order banned Kim from leaving the Country well Kim responded by attempting To flee to China on a tiny fishing boat But that didn't go down too well after Setting sale Kim was soon wrecked by Severe weather and was handcuffed by Police Upon returning to shore at the Time of his arrest it said that his Crypto Holdings ran into several hundred Millions of dollars apparently not all Of that came from aping into random Shitcoins on Stream now as you might have guessed Cholu and John Bim are not your average Korean Traders but nonetheless we can Learn a thing or two about the country's
Crypto scene from their shenanigans Namely leverage starved degens confined To sex spot markets an All or Nothing Mindset and above all an insatiable Appetite for risk if you want to know Why we say this smash that like button And stay tuned if you think that you Already know then tell us your take in The comments and while you're at it Subscribe and turn on the notifications So you never miss an upload I was Trapped inside a cage a cage AG made out Of The Daily Grind I was so unfulfilled I felt like a blank sheet of A4 paper Something was missing from my life but I Didn't know what but then I found what I'd been missing the coin Bureau deals Page was the answer to my prayers it had Everything I needed to make me complain Exchange sign up bonuses of up to $50,000 the biggest discount on the best Hardware wallets Trading fee discounts Of up to 60% on the best crypto Exchanges exclusive altcoin Alpha thank You coin bual for bringing me back to Life to really understand career's role In crypto and crypto's role in career You have to know a little about life in The country and if you look at what's Being traded the most on upbit at any Given day it can feel a little like Stepping into the Twilight Zone but Don't be deceived be behind the tickers Is a story all too
Familiar wages are surpressed to the Point that a majority of the populace is Paycheck to paycheck so everyone has to Hyper gamble through markets to LeapFrog Socioeconomic tear or just settle for Mediocracy these are the words of sana's K Asm on a recent expost he wasn't Actually talking about Korea but the Shoe fits extremely well allow me to Explain this year South Korea's minimum Wage will rise to 9,861 or $737 cents an hour a large chunk of the Job market has become casualized forcing Millions of people to juggle two or Three precarious part-time jobs just to Scrape a living competition for Well-paid full-time jobs is extremely Fierce meanwhile the average apartment Price in Soul has been hovering around The $1 million Mar Mark for the last few Years as with so many countries the Capital is a magnet for young people who See little opportunity Elsewhere according to the bank of Korea The ratio of apartment prices to Disposable income in Korean households Was 26 to1 last year that's compared to Around 12 to1 in other advanced Economies but what have the retail Investments seen why don't Koreans just Put their wages into index funds like Everyone else even if you had a low Income at least you can use a fund to
Reliably beat inflation and grow your Savings right take the S&P 500 for Example since the beginning of 2008 the Year Satoshi dropped the Bitcoin white Paper the S&P 500 is up 250% of course to anyone who was orange Pilled by that paper a 2.5x in 16 years Must sound like some kind of torture Although I hear this has been a pretty Popular play in no coiner circles but Until recently it wasn't easy for Korean Retail investors to buy foreign stocks So they tended to invest locally let's See how that worked out Korea stock Market index is the Cosby since 2008 the Cosby is up well actually it's not it's Down 0.39% now the how the why and the what In the world of The Cosby is a story for Another YouTube channel but you get the Point the suggestion that one day you'll Be able to own a home if you just work Hard and invest in stocks is frankly Cruel so what options are Koreans left With well the lottery is popular in Korea but it's not much of an investment Strategy and for what it's worth Gambling is a legal if you're a Korean Citizen with the exception of one Casino Which is hidden in the the middle of a Mountain range so the economic Conditions that we have described so far Have left a whole lot of Koreans feeling Trapped but then came Satoshi since
Crypto started to catch on in the 2010s Millions of people have glimpsed a way Out as in so many other countries crypto Has given people in Korea hope when the Odds are stacked so high against you and You have so little to start with what's There to lose anyway your best bet is Probably to survive on a diet of ramen And water and pull whatever you have Left into the riskiest micro caps on Upbit they're either going to go to zero Or valala so you might as well take the Chance and hope for the latter not Financial Advice CH we'll talk a little bit more about What's being traded on upbit a little Later but while we're on the topic it It's worth highlighting the exceptional Appetite for risk among Korean Traders And investors this is neither new or a Phenomenon or unique to crypto remember Those cby numbers well don't be deceived Because while the equity spot Market Seemed long dead South Korea's Derivatives Market used to be red hot From 2001 to 20111 Korea had the largest derivatives Market in the world and it used to Account for more than quarter of the World's derivatives traded volume and at One point retail investors made up 40% Of Korea's domestic Market but towards The end of this period things started to
Get really out of hand the market was Rocked by a series of scandals including Massive stock price manipulation by Deutsch Bank there was even one options Trader whose risky strategy involved Bombing Soul's main train station to Precipitate a market crash I'm not Joking well you can probably guess what Happened next regulations came down like A sledgehammer the government kneecapped The derivatives Market which fell from Number one in the world to well outside The top 10 it never recovered we suspect This created an underserved Market of Risk Seekers who would have taken to Crypto like ducks to water after the Derivatives Market got nived so economic I conditions like low wages Skyhigh Housing costs and unmet demand for risky Investments can help explain why some Koreans are betting the farm on crypto But like we mentioned earlier these Economic conditions tell a story that Will be familiar to many of you watching In other words not exactly unique to Korea to explain the nature of the Korean crypto Market you need to Understand the country's unique cultural Characteristics firstly let's start with The obvious the language barrier this is One of the biggest reasons for the Dominance of local centralized exchanges And the insularity of korean's crypto Community in general look it's bad
Enough between English speakers as it is Triy pitching parallelize ZK evbm Rollups to a coinless coworker and see How long it takes for their eyes to Glaze over crypto's learning curve is Steep enough for anglophones but when Your native language has little in Common with English to start with Navigating web 3 can be simply a pain in The neck put simply most Koreans want to Access information and services in their Own language and who can blame them Secondly South Korea is an exceptionally Fastmm moving Society Koreans are Famously pressed for time and there is One thing they can't stand it's being Made to wait crypto is no exception just Look at this guy sure Or this Guy this Need for Speed funnels more People away from large cap cryptos and Into the fast lane who wants to get rich Slowly when you could potentially 1,000x Your life savings overnight through Flipping meme coins third is the power Of Trends in Korea transends of all Kinds sweep through the country like Tidal waves when the wind changes Direction people are quick to notice and Follow suit this sensitivity to Trends Is the reason why you see explosive Spikes in volume on certain cryptos Followed by headlines explain that it Was the Korean degens at it again
Related to this is the information Economy Korean crypto users tend to Convert in large telegram groups where It's easiest to detect new trends rather Than say go solo digging for Alpha in Threads on X fourth many aspects of Life In Korea are subject to Fierce Competition this has the effect of Turbocharging Trends because once a Trend catches on the pressure to keep up With your peers and not come in last can Be intense in other words fomo is Extremely cont agous in Korea okay it's Time to turn to the million doll or 1.3 Billion1 question which cryptos will These Korean D teleport next and how can I front run them to answer this question We'll begin with some interesting Findings shared by Kao research who Compared what cryptos were traded the Most on upbit and coinbase last year These are the largest exchanges by Traded volume in Korea and the US resp Effectively and incidentally their Traded volumes are quite similar so when It comes to coinbase there is not a Surprise insight as you would expect BTC Eth and stable coins take a Lion Share Accounting for 68% of coinbase's traded Volumes altcoins make up the remainder The chart for upbit on the other hand Looks like the Kaio graphic designer Accidentally inverted the colors on Photoshop altcoins make up 88% of all
Trades Bitcoin doesn't even scrape 10% And eth accounts for just 2% you'll also Notice the lack of stable coins in Korea Sex users connect their bank account and Trade almost exclusively in Korean 1 Fiat pairs we suspect the over Representation of Korean one in global Fiat to crypto trading might have Something to do with this Kaio also Broke down which trade imp pairs to the Highest volume on coinbase and upbit Each day for the first 10 months of 2023 on coinbase btcusd saw the highest Volume on all but 22 days on bitcoin's 22 off days it was either edged out by Eusd or USD TUSD again no surprises but Upfits chart is where things get really Interesting 40 different trading pairs Claim the highest volume on at least one Day xrp KRW dominates with 70 days in The top spot BTC KRW was number one for Around 64 days but beyond that the chart Looks like someone flicked a paintbrush At the spot Market it's total chaos There were days where ethereum classic Saw the most traded volume but eth Itself didn't even make it onto the Chart and if you look closely you'll Probably notice tickers that you have Never seen before these are the So-called kimchi coins which are traded Exclusively by Koreans on Korean Exchanges and which have close to zero Recognition or listings outside the
Country kimchi coins are a world untone In themselves there have been all sorts Of scandals involving politicians and Kimchi coins in Korea they probably Deserve their own video but if you don't Hold a Korean citizenship you can't make An account on Korean exchanges and if You can't trade on Korean exchanges There are a lot of kimchi coins you Won't be able to buy or sell so we'll Leave it for them for the moment kimchi Coins aside what have we seen so far Well for starters it might be time to Add xrp dominance to our vocabulary Other than that the Korean market is Characterized by sporadic and brief Explosions in volume for a really Eclectic range of altcoins now if you're Goal is to accumulate cryptos before They explode in Korea we don't have a Crystal ball but we can point you in the Right direction firstly even if you Don't speak a word of Korean jumping Into crypto Korean telegram groups with Large communities will give you a direct Line as to what tickers are seeing a lot Of mentions in Korea there are dozens of Telegram index and sites we tried a free One to find the most subscribed crypto Related channels in Korea we can't Endorse any of them in particular but Joining the top five or 10 or so will Probably give you a pretty good sense as To what's getting traction over there
Naturally if you can machine translate Your telegram chats you can get much More out of this just keep your wits About you there are many groups out There with cooked subscriber counts Populated by paid NPCs in Click Farms to Try to rug you and anyway if you're an Experienced Jam Hunter you'll know that By the time cryptos get a buzz in huge Telegram groups you're definitely not Early so if you're serious about front Running the next hot narrative you'll Need to go a little bit further down the Rabbit hole this means seeking out Dedicated DJ researchers on X and Telegram with low follow accounts and Hoovering up every Crum of alpha they Share this is the first recommendation We can make the second is researching What Korean project VCS are bidding due to the regulatory Environment in Korea it's difficult for Large institutions to invest Meaningfully in crypto projects VCS in The United States however are showing Great interest in Korea's crypto scene This is good news for us because if you Search around you can read about what Career-based projects American VCS are Bidding in English and lastly a Narrative-based approach is never a bad Idea for example we know that Korea is a World leader in gaming metais and other Content Creation with a turn of valuable
IP in these fields and just for example We also know that many Korean gaming Students are building their own layer One ecosystems after learning from the Experience of axi infinity developers Are plotting how to increase player Retention be on the lifespan of a single Game do with that information what you Will but there are big studios bidding This narrative then it's probably a good Idea to do some Googling before a shiny New game is launched whatever you do Just remember that Dy is not a meme it's A must educate yourself before aping and Don't be a top buyer good Luck okay well that's it for today's Video if you learn something new about Crypto in Korea make sure the like Button is in Smither if you think you Know what crypto is going to get sent up On update next let us know in the Comments make sure to subscribe and ding The Bell button so you can be the first In line for the new Quin buau uploads Don't forget you can save yourself money By visiting the coin buau deals page too The link is in the description as always Thank you for watching and I'll see you Next time this is Jessica signing Off
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