$300 for Ethereum in South Korea, Trading at a $100 Premium
South Korea has suddenly made a big entry into the scene with their trading volumes some of the highest out of all exchanges while price premiums today reached an all-time high of $100 for ethereum.
It is not very clear what exactly is causing such premiums. Coinmarketcap says the volume of South Korean exchanges has been excluded because withdrawals are impeded, but we aren’t aware of any such news nor is it clear why withdrawals would be impeded.
The premium, however, appears to be exceptional, but the country’s biggest company which contributes some 17% of its GDP and is overall very dominant over its economy, Samsung, just recently announced they are to join the Ethereum Enterprise Alliance.
That may have been very big news in South Korea, further legitimizing ethereum in their eyes due to Samsung’s endorsement, with the significant price premium coming into effect only after that announcement was made.
Ethereum itself has doubled in price over the past few days, further rising this year from around $10 to now trade at $212, an astonishing rise with its market cap now standing near $20 billion, higher than bitcoin’s market cap just last month.
The reasons are numerous, including an increased interest in digital currencies across the board, but especially for eth and bitcoin both of which made it to Google’s trending word searches.
Ethereum’s transaction levels have reached a new high of 187,000, getting close to bitcoin’s current transaction levels, in a sign that suggests its use is increasing considerably in line with its rising price.
Its online discussion places further attract significant activity, at times higher than bitcoins, as new users join the ethereum spring in one of the greatest party on earth and in an atmosphere not seen since the 90s when the internet was about to take off.
Featured image from Shutterstock.
