Bitcoin Price Holds Near $78,000 as South Korea's Kimchi Premium Returns at About 1%
Bitcoin's price has held steady near $78,000 as of September 1st, following a late-August rally that pushed the largest cryptocurrency above $80,000 for the first time since May.
CoinGecko data shows that Bitcoin has traded mostly sideways around $78,000 in the past seven days, after swinging between a high near $81,300 on August 28 and a low near $76,900 the same day. The combined spot volume stayed heavy through that range, with daily turnover often between about $30 billion and $47 billion.
The Kimchi Premium, a measure of the price difference in South Korea, reappeared on September 1st, marking a 1% price gap in South Korea after a summer discount since June. According to Bloomberg, Bitcoin priced in won on Upbit was trading at a roughly 1% premium to Binance's dollar quote.
The return of the Kimchi Premium is best read as a sentiment check on one of crypto's most watched retail markets, not as proof that Korean buyers are now leading Bitcoin. The dollar price has recovered from the low $60,000s to the high $70,000s after Treasury and ETF-driven buying.