Korean exchanges are finally starting to accept new signups, with Bithumb becoming the second exchange after Coinone to have its bank begin allow for registrations of new accounts. Only one of the two banks that is associated with Bithumb, Nonghyup, is accepting new accounts. The other, Shinhan, is currently waiting to see the results of an investigation into the hacking problems that Bithumb has recently been dealing with. Upbit is currently in talks with its bank, IBK regarding the creation of accounts for new investors.
Overall, this seems good, as there are plenty of investors waiting to get there hands on what they see as cheap cryptocurrency because of the recent “dip.” As more exchanges begin accepting new users and new capital starts to enter the space, we hopefully will see volumes pick up and interest begin to grow again.
With the start of the PyeongChang Olympics, many internationals are abound in the streets of Seoul and PyeongChang. A Korean company has decided to capitalize on the crypto-craze and permit purchases in the olympic venue where Ethereum is an accepted form of payment. This is good news as the fact that this sort of company which is native to Korea is being allowed to work at the olympics shows that Korean government sentiment towards crypto is improving. Also, it is going to give people from all over the world who are visiting exposure to Ethereum and crypto as a means of payment. This isn’t big news, but it does show that people here in Korea are making real efforts in order to help crypto adoption and usage.
It seems the Korean markets sentiment has turned for the better over the week with the Kimchi Premium returning to about 7 percent, as well as less people asking me how much money have I lost and again asking me how they can buy. Even my friends mom is asking how she can buy Ripple.
Additionally, the meetup scene here is alive and well, with plenty of people attending and in increasing numbers. As another good sign, at the meetups I have attended, people are being much more scrutinous about ICOs, asking questions about number of devs and timeline, instead of simply asking just how much it costs and where it will be listed.
Overall, I think that the market may be a little too excited with everything coming back, coming up nearly 60% since the bottom in just five days, but with healthy volume and the Korean prime minister announcing that closing exchanges is not an option, it seems things in the crypto space are headed up for now.
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