Bitcoin premium surges in Asian market vis-a-vis its USD-spot market equivalent

[Mercury]

Bitcoin’s popularity seems to be on the rise despite the cryptocurrency’s sluggish performance in June with the East Asian market emerging as favorites. With the market for cryptocurrencies spread across western countries and its base in South Asia, with a few hotbeds spread across the globe, the dominance is fairly diverse with the Asian dragon peaking in recent months.

According to a recent piece of analysis by Binance Research questioning Asia’s stance of going “all-in” with reference to the cryptocurrency realm, three key players were noticed.  China, Japan, and South Korea were top contenders, each amassing soaring premiums compared to its USD-spot equivalent for their own domestic virtual currency market.

Source: Binance Research

Bitflyer, the FSA adherent cryptocurrency exchange saw leveraged premiums on the FCBTC/JPT trading pair soar to 5 percent in the past month, since mid-May 2019. The last time these figures enjoyed a high as the current one was prior during July 2018.

The peak of the crypto-winter, which saw the price of Bitcoin drop from a yearly high of over $13,000 to a low of $3,000, saw the premiums move in accordance. The BTC leverage post-November 2018 to March 2018 was in the negative and switched above the x-axis following the April ascendance when the price shot up over $5,000.

Source: Binance Research

Bithumb, the largest fiat-cryptocurrency South Korean exchange also enjoyed a similar high with the return of the “Kimichi premium.” The Asian giant also saw premiums touching 5 percent in the past month, but the switch was not as drastic as Bitflyer. The last time Bithumb’s premium reached and rose above this level, it was November 2018.

The report read,

“The “Kimichi Premium” returns, the price of Bitcoin (BTC/KRW) in South Korean exchange Bithumb has recently seen premiums of up to 5% to that of BTC/USD spot price, reaching its highest level in 7 months.”

Source: Binance Research

Not that far behind is China, with the Asian giant amassing significant mining power and touting several crypto-exchanges, a crackdown by the Communist government has resulted in an exodus. However, a USDT/CNY premium is also seen.

It should be noted that Chinese residents cannot purchase Bitcoins directly and hence resort to the stablecoin Tether [USDT] for buying cryptocurrencies.

Despite the mining ban by the government citing the energy-intensive nature of cryptocurrencies, the OTC Premium of the aforementioned trading pair is over 3 percent. Not since mid-April has the premium reached this height and this is only the second time the premium is over 2 percent since the beginning of the year.

On the topic of China’s resurgent crypto-market, Binance Research stated,

“Despite the crypto market’s recent correction, Tether’s OTC premium in China (USDT/CNY) shows few signs of disappearing. Instead, it rose to its highest level in 2019-showing the willingness for new money to enter the crypto market.”

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