South Korea saw record trade volume of over $34 billion across local spot cryptocurrency exchanges in the past 24 hours, during which the country’s president declared emergency martial law, which lasted six hours.
According to data from CoinMarketCap, South Korean exchanges Upbit, Bithumb, Coinone, Korbit and Gopax recorded a combined crypto trading volume of $34.2 billion in the 24 hours leading up to 10:30 a.m. in local time on Wednesday. Upbit, South Korea’s largest exchange, processed $27.25 billion worth of crypto alone.
The 24-hour trading volume nearly doubled the $18 billion recorded on Dec. 2, which had already made headlines for surpassing the daily volume of the local stock market. According to local crypto news outlet Digital Asset, Tuesday’s trade volume recorded the highest single-day total this year.
The surge in crypto trading volume occurred as the country’s president Yoon Suk-yeol declared emergency martial law late Tuesday night, saying he sought to protect the country from threats to democracy posed by “anti-state” forces targeting the opposition left-wing political party.
South Korean traders rushed to sell their crypto on local exchanges, causing bitcoin’s price on Upbit to drop to 88 million won ($62,182) at one stage, according to local news agency News1. Most other cryptocurrencies on major South Korean exchanges also saw price drops, while the platforms experienced service outages due to the spike in activity.
Prices have since stabilized, as President Yoon called off the martial law enforcement six hours after the declaration. This followed a unanimous vote against the martial law by lawmakers present at an emergency meeting at 1 a.m. on Wednesday.
South Korea’s opposition party reportedly announced Wednesday morning that it will file charges of treason against President Yoon, the Minister of Defense and the Minister of the Interior and Safety, while also pushing for their impeachment.
Meanwhile, decentralized prediction market platform Polymarket saw the odds of a half-million dollar bet on whether President Yoon would leave office this year jump to 78% earlier today before falling back to 47%. Yoon’s term as president, if served full, is expected to end in May 2027.
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