Crypto trading surged to $18 billion in 24 hours, outpacing the exchange’s $14 billion performance, driven by altcoins like XRP and DOGE. On the other hand, the political crisis in South Korea seems to have benefited the TRX coin project of the Tron blockchain. Here are all the details…
What happened in South Korea?
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol announced “martial law” in a televised statement late Tuesday night, saying the move was in response to allegations of anti-state activities within the opposition Democratic Party. In response, the government deployed military personnel to key locations, including the National Assembly, and temporarily banned political gatherings. Individual cryptocurrency trading in South Korea reached new highs, surpassing $4 billion on the country’s stock exchange in just 24 hours.
Within 60 minutes of the declaration of martial law, Lookonchain reported over $163 million in tether (USDT) inflows to Upbit. Experts believe this sudden surge was driven by opportunistic investors aiming to buy during the sharp drop. This marks the first time martial law has been declared since South Korea’s democratic transition in 1987. Reports detail that President Yoon defended the decision as vital to ensure national stability, but critics, including opposition leaders and members of his own conservative party, denounced the decision as unconstitutional and authoritarian.
Martial law was “canceled”: TRX coin and these cryptos benefited
Then, in the early morning, martial law in South Korea was withdrawn. Still, the turmoil benefited a few altcoins. The increase in trading volume was driven by large trading activity in several altcoins, including Ripple’s XRP, Dogecoin (DOGE), Stellar (XLM), Ethereum Name Service (ENS) and Hedera (HBAR). According to a 10x Research report, South Korea’s retail crypto trading volumes rose to $18 billion on December 2, reaching the second highest level of the year. Ripple’s XRP led the way with more than $6.3 billion in trading volume. DOGE followed with $1.6 billion, while XLM recorded $1.3 billion. Other notable altcoins included ENS with $900 million and HBAR with $800 million.
Markus Thielen, founder of 10x Research, explained that this resulted in one of the largest divergences on record. He emphasized that Bitcoin’s relatively low funding rate of just 15% annually, coupled with the recent surge in altcoin trading, clearly signals the start of an altcoin season. The expert also advised investors to be disciplined in seizing these opportunities. During the political turmoil, South Korean cryptocurrency users rushed to move their holdings from local exchanges to global exchanges. During these moves, the TRON Network was used more than the Ethereum network. In this process, the TRX coin was also on the agenda, as it remained in use as a means of transfer.
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