ChainCatcher news, CryptoQuant CEO Ki Young Ju posted on X platform that the Bitcoin "kimchi premium" has reached 12%, a new high in three years. The main reason for the decline in BTC seems to be the strengthening of the DXY (Dollar Index).

ChainCatcher news, CryptoQuant analyst Joo Hyun Ryu stated, "The 'kimchi premium' has reached a local high of 5.12, indicating that the demand for Bitcoin among Korean investors is very strong."Ryu explained, "However, this sharp market correction seems to be attracting new investors, as data shows that the proportion of short-term holders (STH, holding period of less than three months) has increased by 3 percentage points in just one week."

ChainCatcher news, South Korean prosecutors have indicted 20 individuals for illegally remitting approximately 40 trillion won (about 3.2 billion USD) overseas, and for illegally profiting up to 210 billion won (about 17 million USD) from the cryptocurrency kimchi premium. South Korean officials have filed for detention against 11 of them, while the other 9 have not been detained.The defendants transferred funds to other countries and purchased cryptocurrencies by disguising them as foreign trade payments through 256 South Korean bank accounts between January 2021 and August 2022, and then sold the cryptocurrencies at high prices in South Korea. Prosecutors stated that given the kimchi premium rate was as high as 5% at the time of the violations, they are currently executing the procedure to confiscate a total of 13.1 billion won (about 10.6 million USD). (source link)

ChainCatcher news, the International Crime Investigation Division of the Central District Prosecutors' Office in Seoul, South Korea, has arrested and prosecuted a gang of four suspected of violating the Foreign Exchange Transaction Act and the Specific Financial Information Act. This gang had been using remittances to buy cryptocurrencies on overseas exchanges from September last year to March this year, then transferring them to other overseas and domestic exchange accounts for sale, totaling 15 trillion won (approximately 1.178 billion USD) in cryptocurrency sold. Prosecutors believe they systematically committed crimes with the aim of profiting from the so-called "kimchi premium."It is reported that the South Korean cryptocurrency market had previously shown signs of overheating, with cryptocurrencies in the Korean market priced higher than in other countries, a phenomenon known as the "kimchi premium."