Dogecoin Craze Sparks Kimchi Premium on Korea’s Top Exchange

• Dogecoin briefly traded at a peak premium of 1.5% on top Korean exchanges.
• DOGE combined 24-hour trading volumes on Bithumb and Upbit exceed $5.5 billion.
• DOGE has been up over 90% in the past 7 days and is the fourth-most traded crypto, with over $28 billion in 24-hour volumes.

Amid a wide uptick in cryptocurrency market activity, South Korean traders have flocked to the top memecoin by market capitalization, Dogecoin (DOGE), and created a sizeable “kimchi premium” on top Korean exchanges.

For note, a kimchi premium refers to the difference in crypto prices between South Korean and foreign exchanges and offers an amazing arbitrage opportunity for traders.

Dogecoin (DOGE) Premium

DOGE has suddenly become one of South Korea’s favorite memecoins, garnering $5.5 billion in 24-hour trading volumes across top Korean exchanges, Bithumb and Upbit.

As of press time, Bithumb and Upbit DOGE/KRW pairs are trading higher than Binance’s DOGE/USDT pair, marking the largest premium in three months.

Currently, DOGE/USDT is trading at $0.3883 on Binance , whereas Bithumb and Upbit have DOGE/KRW trading at $0.3919, a premium difference of 0.92%. The premium peaked at roughly 1.5% when DOGE was trading around the global average of $0.40.

As per a report from The Korea Times, the frenzy comes as part of a broader memecoin trend, which is also driving Koreans towards other dog-themed tokens like Shiba Inu. (SHIB), which has also seen explosive increases in 24-hour trading volumes.

DOGE Price

Following Trump’s U.S. Presidential Election victory, Bitcoin and the wider crypto market have relished major gains in just over a week.

Notably, the Elon Musk-touted DOGE has experienced exceptional gains , trading up over 90% for the week , according to CoinMarketCap.

Since Nov. 6, 2024, DOGE has nearly doubled its market cap from $29 billion to just over $56 billion.

Perhaps further fuelling the excitement around the memecoin is the appointment of Elon Musk as the head of the U.S. Department of Government Efficiency —or DOGE.

In typical memecoin fashion, it can be expected that the price of DOGE will react even more to the success (or failure) of Musk, Trump, the new department, and even Tesla /SpaceX.

For now, arbitrage traders continue to relish the kimchi premium as such events tend to be short-lived.