[Bitcoin Now] Surpasses 70 Million Won Again... "Surpassing 200 Million Won Within the Year" VS "Speculation"

Bitcoin Surpasses 70 Million Won Again in Four Days
US Exchange 'Coinbase' Valuation Exceeds 100 Trillion Won
Experts Divided with Positive and Negative Outlooks

On the 15th, Bitcoin information is displayed on the electronic billboard at Bithumb Gangnam Center. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Gong Byung-sun] The representative cryptocurrency Bitcoin has once again surpassed 70 million KRW. While there are forecasts that it could approach 250 million KRW within the year, criticisms continue that it remains nothing more than speculation.

According to the domestic cryptocurrency exchange Upbit, Bitcoin recorded 70.2 million KRW as of 1:39 AM on the 19th, up 2.5% from the previous day. This marks the first time in four days since it dropped from the 70 million KRW level on the 15th that it has broken through 70 million KRW again. Afterwards, it slightly faltered and fell to the 66 million KRW range as of 10:40 AM that day.

Since the beginning of this year, it has fluctuated but generally shown an upward trend. On January 21, when U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen hinted at regulations, Bitcoin’s price dropped 12.06% in one day, falling to the 31 million KRW range. It then rebounded and set a new high of 65.85 million KRW on the 22nd of last month. However, on the following day, the 23rd, when Secretary Yellen criticized Bitcoin at the New York Times DealBook Conference for being used in illegal finance, it dropped 10.75%, sliding down to the 49 million KRW range. Nevertheless, it soon recovered and recorded an all-time high of 71.45 million KRW on the 13th.

With Bitcoin’s rise, the valuation of Coinbase, a U.S. cryptocurrency exchange preparing for a Nasdaq listing, has exceeded 100 trillion KRW. According to Bloomberg, a U.S. economic media outlet, on the 9th, Coinbase was traded at $350 per share in the Nasdaq over-the-counter market. This is nearly a 12-fold increase from the $28 to $30 level last September. Bloomberg thus valued Coinbase’s enterprise value at $90 billion (approximately 101.8 trillion KRW).

Some experts predict it will exceed 200 million KRW within the year. Max Kaiser, a cryptocurrency investment strategist and host of the well-known economic broadcast Kaiser Report, tweeted on the 18th (local time), “Concerns about inflation are growing due to increased money supply from stimulus measures,” adding, “Bitcoin is rising further as a hedge against inflation loss risk and will reach $220,000 (about 250 million KRW) within the year.” Earlier, on the 17th, he had forecasted on Twitter that “Bitcoin will rise to $77,000 in the short term.”

There are also considerable pessimistic predictions. Francisco Blanch, a researcher at Bank of America, the largest U.S. bank, criticized Bitcoin as essentially a speculative asset in a report on the 17th. He analyzed that Bitcoin does not serve as an inflation hedge and that stocks actually had a stronger correlation with inflation. He argued, “Bitcoin advocates express favorable views solely for price increases, not for portfolio diversification or inflation hedging purposes.”

Aswath Damodaran, a valuation expert and professor at New York University, also gave a negative assessment of Bitcoin. According to CNBC, a U.S. economic media outlet, on the 16th, Professor Damodaran said, “Although Bitcoin surged, it is difficult to see it as a hedge tool because of the time lag,” adding, “Bitcoin fell even more during last year’s stock market crash.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.