South Korea Drives Shiba Inu's 36% Price Surge Amid Memecoin Market Shift

Shiba Inu's price surged by 36% in recent trading, driven largely by an influx of buying activity from South Korean retail traders. According to data from Upbit, a dominant exchange in Korea, SHIB trading volume reached approximately $4.25M in March 2026, nearly matching Binance's $4.36M for the same period.

Korean retail investors have historically shown a strong affinity for meme-based tokens like SHIB, which can create liquidity spikes that ripple across global markets. This phenomenon has been dubbed 'Korea's memecoin obsession' by analysts.

The current rally is part of a broader momentum wave, with SHIB having already posted a notable 25% surge in mid-July. A similar 36% rally occurred in November 2024, correlated with a golden cross pattern where the short-term moving average crossed above the long-term moving average.

The Shibarium layer-2 network continues to develop in the background, and on-chain data shows significant whale accumulation in recent weeks. However, despite this momentum, the overall market share for memecoins relative to Bitcoin has been declining throughout 2026, suggesting a broader investor base is rotating towards assets perceived as more fundamentally sound.