The price of Bitcoin is lower in South Korea than on global markets due to a negative ‘kimchi premium’ not seen since October 2023. The kimchi premium refers to the price difference between the price of Bitcoin in South Korea and the global market. However, analysts expect the negative kimchi premium to be a temporary phenomenon as it has only persisted for a short period historically.
This premium is driven by local demand, regulatory factors, and capital controls in South Korea, leading to occasional price discrepancies.
Currently, the kimchi premium stands at -0.74%, which leads to a lower market price for Bitcoin on South Korean exchanges than the rest of the world. Analysts attribute this to low domestic investor sentiment due to the country’s stringent regulations surrounding digital assets.
