Bitcoin at 140 million won as Upbit's Drive rallies 65%

On the morning of September 17 at 7:30 AM, South Korea's cryptocurrency market saw renewed preference for risk assets. Total 24-hour trading volume (Upbit and Bithumb) reached 2 trillion won, with 33 out of 42 stocks exceeding 500 million won in trading volume rising—a 79% rise rate.

The major cryptocurrencies rose together: Bitcoin increased to 140 million won, up 1.0% from the previous day, while Ethereum rose to 3.29 million won, up 0.7%. The biggest gainer was Drive, listed on Upbit, which surged 65.2% to 309 won, accumulating trading volume of 27.7 billion won. Risk (36.3%) and Interpolled (29.8%) also rose significantly. On the decline side, Maple (33.7%) and Asta (7.5%) fell.

By absolute trading volume, XRP (Ripple) led with 270.2 billion won, followed by Risk at 141.8 billion won and Bitcoin at 91.7 billion won. The top five cryptocurrencies accounted for about 30% of total market trading volume.

Several assets saw increased overnight activity: Dogecoin's hourly trading volume over the past six hours was 1.9 times the previous 18-hour average, with a 0.9% price increase. OfficialTrump rose 1.8% as its 24-hour volume grew by 1.5 times, though both remained low at 16.9 billion won and 10.9 billion won respectively.

In derivatives markets, $336 million was liquidated over 24 hours with longs at 49.2% and shorts at 50.8%. The put-call ratio for Deribit Bitcoin options stood at 0.88, indicating more capital betting on upward movement.

Investor sentiment remained subdued: the Fear & Greed Index dropped to 51 from 69 the previous day, entering a 'neutral' range. The Kimchi Premium stayed negative at -0.3%, reflecting domestic prices still below global levels.