As Ethereum (ETH) steadily approaches its all-time excessive (ATH), some business leaders imagine that the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization shouldn’t be solely benefiting from natural demand. Fairly, it’s being “propped up” by Korean buyers trying to make a fast buck.
Ethereum Being Held Up By Korean Traders?
In an X publish earlier at this time, crypto entrepreneur Samson Mow made some fascinating observations on ETH’s present value trajectory. The crypto government attributed ETH’s present heightened value to Korean retail buyers.
Particularly, Mow acknowledged that roughly $6 billion value of Korean retail capital is supporting Ethereum costs. Mow blamed ETH influencers who’re reportedly touring to South Korea to market the digital asset to retail buyers.
As well as, the founding father of AQUA Pockets stated ETH buyers are usually not totally conscious of the ETH/BTC chart, and are underneath the misunderstanding that they’re shopping for the “subsequent Technique.” He cautioned that it’ll not finish properly for ETH buyers.
To recall, Technique is the main public firm with regards to the quantity of Bitcoin (BTC) held on its steadiness sheet. In response to knowledge from Coingecko, Technique at present holds 640,031 BTC, value greater than $48 billion at prevailing market costs.
In the case of Ethereum-based treasury companies, BitMine leads the pack, holding greater than 2.5 million ETH value roughly $12.4 billion. Different companies like SharpLink Gaming (838,728 ETH), Coinbase ((136,782 ETH), Bit Digital (120,306 ETH), and ETHZilla (102,246 ETH) spherical up the highest 5 within the checklist.
There are a number of indicators that the Ethereum buying and selling market in South Korea could also be reaching overbought ranges. For example, the ETH “Kimchi premium” surged to 1.93 on October 5, a major surge from -2.06 noticed in July 2025 when the cryptocurrency traded under $3,000.
For the uninitiated, the Kimchi premium refers back to the value distinction the place cryptocurrencies commerce at larger costs on South Korean exchanges in comparison with international markets. This premium arises from robust native demand, restricted capital circulation out of Korea, and regulatory boundaries that stop simple arbitrage between Korean and worldwide exchanges.
On-Chain Information Counsel Robust Demand For ETH
In distinction to Mow’s opinion, on-chain knowledge exhibits that each institutional and retail demand for ETH shouldn’t be exhibiting any indicators of slowing down. BitMine continues to stack ETH regardless of it buying and selling near its ATH territory.
On the similar time, ETH-based exchange-traded funds (ETFs) proceed to draw an growing quantity of inflows. Lately, US-based spot ETH ETFs attracted document inflows value $547 million. At press time, ETH trades at $4,701, up 4.4% prior to now 24 hours.
Featured picture from Unsplash.com, chart from TradingView.com
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