There were sudden and large drops in Bitcoin and altcoins on South Korean stock exchanges. The South Korean government's declaration of martial law was behind these drops.
Major cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin have fallen by as much as 30% against the South Korean won since the South Korean government declared a state of emergency late on.
Accordingly, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol declared “emergency martial law”, accusing opposition parties of weakening the government, sympathizing with North Korea and paralyzing the country's legislative process.
The negative sentiment in the country spilled over into crypto markets, with cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin (BTC), XRP and Dogecoin (DOGE), which are the most traded on local exchanges, falling by up to 30% on Upbit.
However, they quickly recovered afterwards.
Bitcoin fell from $96,000 to $71,000 in USDT terms in US dollars.
Upbit and Bithumb have issued reports of site streaming and performance delays due to a surge in user activity following martial law.
*This is not investment advice.