David Edwards
South Korea experienced an unprecedented surge in cryptocurrency trading, with local exchanges recording $34.2 billion in volume over a single day, coinciding with a brief six-hour period of martial law declared by President Yoon Suk-yeol.
Data from CoinMarketCap reveals that leading exchanges Upbit, Bithumb, Coinone, Korbit, and Gopax saw record-breaking activity as of 10:30 a.m. local time on Wednesday. Upbit alone accounted for $27.25 billion of the total. This marked a sharp increase from the $18 billion recorded just a day earlier, which itself had surpassed the daily trading volume of South Korea’s stock market.
The market frenzy followed President Yoon’s late-night declaration of emergency martial law on Tuesday, citing threats to democracy from alleged “anti-state” forces targeting the opposition left-wing party. The announcement triggered widespread panic selling, leading to a dramatic drop in cryptocurrency prices. Bitcoin fell to 88 million won ($62,182) on Upbit at its lowest point, while other cryptocurrencies also plummeted. Exchanges faced significant service outages due to the influx of activity.
The martial law was rescinded after six hours, following a unanimous vote against the measure during an emergency legislative session at 1 a.m. on Wednesday. By the morning, crypto prices and exchange services had stabilized.
The opposition party has since vowed to pursue legal action, including treason charges and impeachment efforts, against President Yoon and senior officials in his administration.
Meanwhile, decentralized prediction market Polymarket reported a spike in betting activity, with the odds of President Yoon leaving office before the end of 2024 briefly reaching 78% before dropping to 47%. Yoon’s term is set to expire in May 2027 if fully served.
This rare intersection of political turmoil and financial markets underscores the volatile relationship between governance and investor behavior in South Korea’s dynamic crypto sector.
