The 'Trump Coin' Craze and the Surge in Kimchi Premium... Korean Investors Return [Hankyung Koala]

Image from Official Trump Website

The Kimchi Premium, which indicates the price difference of cryptocurrencies between domestic and overseas markets, once exceeded 5%. It is analyzed that domestic cryptocurrency investment demand has increased following the issuance of the meme coin by President Donald Trump.

According to the industry on the 20th, the Kimchi Premium recorded 5.06% at one point that day. This means that domestic prices are that much more expensive than overseas. After President Donald Trump was elected in the U.S. presidential election on November 6 last year, Bitcoin prices soared, but the Kimchi Premium often moved around 0% because there was more investment demand overseas compared to domestically.

The Kimchi Premium, which was 0.82% the previous day, surpassed 5% that day due to the influence of the cryptocurrency 'Official Trump' officially issued by President Donald Trump. Although 'Official Trump' cannot be directly invested in domestic cryptocurrency exchanges, the domestic trading volume of Solana, which is based on this coin, has surged. In fact, Solana traded on the domestic cryptocurrency exchange Upbit amounts to 2.8 trillion won. This figure exceeds the Bitcoin trading volume (1.2 trillion won) by more than double. Solana surged more than 20% in a single day on the 18th, surpassing 450,000 won, and is currently trading at around 370,000 won.

On this day, President Trump's wife, Melania, also issued a meme coin called '$Melania'. This coin once soared by 24,000%, recording a market capitalization of 8.5 billion dollars. $Melania is also a Solana-based meme coin. The U.S. media criticized, saying, "Literally making money using the presidency," and "There may be concerns that the sitting president is exerting undue influence."

The prices of major cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin have fallen. As of 9 a.m. that day, Bitcoin was traded at 154 million won, down 1.16% compared to 24 hours ago. Ethereum recorded 4.892 million won, down 0.75%.

Reporter Jo Mi-hyun mwise@hankyung.com