[Bitcoin Now] Slight Rebound to 57 Million KRW Range... Omicron Cited as Cause of Downtrend

<기사제목>Lee Kwang-jae, Democratic Party Lawmaker, to Accept Political Donations in Cryptocurrency

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Gong Byung-sun] The leading cryptocurrency Bitcoin slightly rose to the 57 million KRW range. However, it continues to struggle, with the new COVID-19 variant Omicron being cited as a recent cause of the downturn.

According to the domestic cryptocurrency exchange Upbit, as of 5:45 PM on the 30th, Bitcoin recorded 57.18 million KRW, up 0.16% compared to the previous day. It had dropped to 56.40 million KRW at 9:22 AM but then rebounded slightly.

However, Bitcoin has shown no significant upward trend since the beginning of this month. It has not surpassed the 70 million KRW mark since the 3rd, and although it exceeded 60 million KRW ahead of Christmas, it soon gave back the gains. The decline rate of Bitcoin this month is about 19.20%.

There is an analysis that the spread of Omicron is the cause of Bitcoin's sluggishness. According to the US economic media CNBC on the 29th (local time), Brian Kelly, CEO of digital currency investment firm BKCM, explained, “With the emergence of Omicron and the US economy slowing down, large funds that used Bitcoin as a hedge against inflation losses began to realize profits.”

In fact, the background of this year's cryptocurrency market rise includes a large influx of major investors. On the 12th of this month, MicroStrategy, the private company holding the most Bitcoin, purchased an additional 1,434 Bitcoins, increasing its holdings to 122,478 Bitcoins. On the 9th, an anonymous major investor holding about 120,000 Bitcoins also bought an additional $140 million (approximately 166.5 billion KRW) worth of Bitcoin.

Meanwhile, the scope of cryptocurrency use has expanded to political donations. Lee Kwang-jae, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, announced that he will accept donations in cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum in mid-January next year. Additionally, receipts will be issued as Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs). The lawmaker explained, “Technology and industry are rapidly advancing, but laws and systems are not keeping up,” adding, “We have started this to lead the digital transformation.”

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