South Korea recovery from martial law and XRP, BTC flash crashes

Wow, what a rollercoaster of a day in South Korea! President Yoon Suk Yeol’s declaration of martial law for the first time since 1979 sent shockwaves through the country, causing assets like bitcoin (BTC) and XRP to take a nosedive on Korean exchanges.

As tanks rolled down the streets of Seoul to protect government buildings, traditional assets like equities and the Korean won (KRW) also saw significant drops. Seoul-based crypto exchanges Upbit and Bithumb experienced outages as trading volumes in BTC and XRP skyrocketed.

BTC plummeted 33% on Upbit’s KRW-denominated trading pair, while XRP, the top asset on Upbit and Bithumb, fell a staggering 56% within just 30 minutes on KRW pairs. It was a chaotic day for South Korean crypto traders, with President Yoon’s order temporarily suspending all political activities.

After some tense moments outside the National Assembly building, the finance ministry stepped in with a promise of “unlimited liquidity” to stabilize the market. This led to a recovery for the KRW and other Korean assets, including Samsung, which initially dropped over 7% in London trading before rebounding.

According to South Korea’s constitution, the president must comply with a National Assembly vote to lift martial law. Despite 190 parliamentarians voting unanimously to lift martial law, President Yoon had not responded as of early morning in Seoul.

Globally, the price of BTC remained relatively stable over the last 24 hours, while XRP was still trading 6% lower on average. What a whirlwind of a day—it will be interesting to see how the situation evolves. Stay tuned for more updates!