Bitcoin trades at South Korea discount as traders shift to altcoins

According to data from CryptoQuant, Bitcoin (CRYPTO:BTC) is currently trading at its steepest discount on South Korean exchanges since October 2023. 

This shift is reflected in the Bitcoin Korea premium index, which measures the price gap between Korean and offshore exchanges, recently sliding to -0.55. 

This suggests that Bitcoin has become less favored by traders in South Korea, with trading volumes supporting this trend. 

Data tracked by 10x Research shows a notable shift in trading preferences, with more South Korean traders moving towards high-beta altcoins. 

According to Markus Thielen, founder of 10x Research, “Quick-moving traders are seizing the opportunity to load up on their favorite altcoins, anticipating a strong Q4 rally.” 

This comes in light of bullish forecasts following a recent interest-rate cut by the U.S. Federal Reserve. 

Thielen pointed out that as Bitcoin surged past $60,000, traders began accumulating undervalued altcoins such as TAO (CRYPTO:TAO), ENA (CRYPTO:ENA), SEI (CRYPTO:SEI), APT (CRYPTO:APT), SUI (CRYPTO:SUI), NEAR (CRYPTO:NEAR), and GRT (CRYPTO:GRT). 

Data from 10x Research highlights this shift, with daily trading volumes over the last 40 days showing traders favoring altcoin pairs like UXLINK (CRYPTO:UXLINK), CKB (CRYPTO:CKB), ARK (CRYPTO:ARK), and PENDLE (CRYPTO:PENDLE) over the traditional bitcoin-korean won (BTC/KRW) pair. 

The growing trend towards altcoins reflects a broader anticipation that further Federal Reserve rate cuts may drive additional market opportunities for these alternative cryptocurrencies. 

Traders are positioning themselves for a potential rally in the final quarter of the year, as they continue to diversify away from Bitcoin.