[Bitcoin Now] 40 Million KRW Level Collapses... MicroStrategy Buys More Using Debt

Janet Yellen, US Treasury Secretary, Signals Interest Rate Hike
Former US President Trump: "Bitcoin Is a Scam"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Gong Byung-sun] The leading cryptocurrency Bitcoin has plummeted below 40 million KRW. Remarks by U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen hinting at interest rate hikes and former U.S. President Donald Trump's criticism of Bitcoin acted as negative factors. However, some companies have taken on debt to buy Bitcoin at a low price.

According to the domestic cryptocurrency exchange Upbit, as of 2:18 PM on the 8th, Bitcoin was priced at 38.11 million KRW, down 2.43% from the previous day. It had risen to 45.69 million KRW on the 3rd but has been declining for five consecutive days since then. It fell 6.50% the day before.

The cryptocurrency market appears to have been shaken by fears of interest rate hikes due to Secretary Yellen. On the 6th (local time), after the Group of Seven (G7) finance ministers' meeting, Secretary Yellen indicated an interest rate increase in an interview with U.S. economic media Bloomberg, stating, "Raising rates slightly higher than now would be beneficial from the perspective of society and the Federal Reserve (Fed)."

Former President Trump called Bitcoin a scam. A scam refers to fraudulent activities where investors are deceived to attract investment funds and then the perpetrators go bankrupt or disappear. On the 7th, in an interview with U.S. economic media Fox Business, he said, "Bitcoin is a scam, and I don't like currencies that compete with the dollar," adding, "Cryptocurrencies should be regulated." Previously, in 2019, former President Trump also stated that he did not like cryptocurrencies.

Meanwhile, MicroStrategy, the private company holding the most Bitcoin, has taken on debt to purchase additional Bitcoin. According to Bloomberg on the 7th, MicroStrategy decided to sell approximately $400 million (about 445.9 billion KRW) in senior secured notes for Bitcoin investment purposes. Bloomberg explained, "Including the Bitcoin investment losses already reflected by MicroStrategy, the total depreciation exceeds $500 million," and added, "This issuance of corporate bonds by MicroStrategy is the first case of issuing junk bonds to invest in Bitcoin." Junk bonds refer to high-risk, high-yield bonds issued by companies with low credit ratings. According to the cryptocurrency data site Bitcoin Treasuries, as of the 8th, MicroStrategy holds a total of 92,079 Bitcoins.

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