Assets listed on South Korean exchanges, including cryptocurrencies like bitcoin (BTC) and XRP, tanked on Tuesday night after President Yoon Suk Yeol declared martial law for the first time since 1979.

Traditional assets like equities, along with the Korean won (KRW), also cratered as tanks rolled down the streets of Seoul to protect government buildings.

As the KRW crashed to its weakest exchange rate against the dollar in 15 years, Seoul-based crypto exchanges Upbit and Bithumb struggled to remain operational. Outages affected users intermittently throughout the evening.

Trading volumes in BTC and XRP surged as prices collapsed, sending BTC tumbling 33% intraday on Upbit’s KRW-denominated trading pair.

XRP, the most popular asset traded on Upbit and Bithumb this week, fell an almost unbelievable 56% within 30 minutes on KRW pairs.

Read more: XRP craze in South Korea reminds traders of LUNA meltdown

A chaotic day for South Korean crypto traders

President Yoon’s order suspended all political activities for approximately three hours until opposition lawmakers raced into an emergency parliamentary session to vote on a lift of martial law.

After some clashes between police and protesters outside the National Assembly building, the finance ministry pledged “unlimited liquidity” to the market, leading the KRW and other Korean assets to pare their losses.

Samsung, the multi-hundred-billion-dollar electronics giant, fell by over 7% in London trading before regaining confidence after the finance ministry’s commitment. The KRW, which had traded nearly 3% lower in FX markets abroad, recouped half of those losses.

South Korea’s constitution demands the president comply with a National Assembly vote to lift martial law. According to a translated excerpt of the constitution, “When the National Assembly requests the lifting of martial law with the concurrent vote of a majority of the total members of the National Assembly, the President shall comply.”

Nevertheless, it’s unclear if President Yoon will actually follow the constitution.

During the late-night session, 190 parliamentarians voted unanimously to lift martial law. As of 1pm in New York (3am in Seoul), however, Yoon and his military hadn’t responded to the vote.

Globally, the price of BTC is relatively unchanged over the last 24 hours. The smaller XRP is still trading 6% lower in global averages.

Got a tip? Send us an email or ProtonMail. For more informed news, follow us on X, Instagram, Bluesky, and Google News, or subscribe to our YouTube channel.

The post South Korea recovers from martial law and XRP, BTC flash crashes appeared first on Protos.

XRP Army, the social media fan club for all things Ripple, is alive and well in South Korea. Seoul-based crypto exchange Upbit reported that XRP traders on its platform are more active than traders of any other crypto asset this week — trading even more than bitcoin (BTC) and ether (ETH).

With over $6 billion in XRP traded, Ripple’s blockchain asset was responsible for over one-third of the crypto exchange’s $18 billion total on Monday.

That South Korea — a relatively small country — is leading a rally in a major cryptocurrency is unremarkable for veterans who have been around since 2017.

Back then, South Korea attracted international crypto arbitrageurs to its ‘kimchi premium,’ the phenomenon that for many months, saw BTC traded at a premium in the country versus exchanges in other regions.

On Monday, and for a few hours over the weekend, XRP denominated in South Korean won (KRW) traded at a slight, single-digit percentage premium versus the global average. Although its premium fluctuated intermittently and is back to parity as of publication time, high demand in South Korea indicated a possible resurgence of a kimchi premium that had not been seen for years.

For one glorious day, Upbit overtook Coinbase price leadership

On December 2, XRP’s price leadership passed from Coinbase to Upbit, and its price in KRW led Coinbase’s price for approximately a day.

XRP has been particularly volatile recently. After more than 400% gains within the last four weeks, some mispricings around the world are certainly to be expected.

On most other major exchanges like Coinbase or Binance, BTC typically has the highest trading volume. However, today, BTC is ranked tenth by trading volume on Seoul-based Upbit.

South Korean Ajummas win big on XRP

XRP’s $150 billion market capitalization ranks among the largest public companies with a primary stock listing in South Korea. Although smaller than Samsung, XRP is larger than Hyundai or Kia. (Of course, the XRP Ledger does not have a headquarters, and most of Ripple’s founders are from California, not Seoul.)

After XRP’s quadrupling over the past four weeks, South Korean media is praising a group known as the Ajummas. Ajumma is a kind of South Korean equivalent of the “Jones” surname that references a stereotypical couple living out a successful American Dream.

Unlike the quintessentially hard-working Mr. and Mrs. Jones, however, South Korean Ajummas are more akin to Japan’s Mrs. Watanabe, a group of stay-at-home housewives-turned-savvy investors.

In Japan, the Mrs. Watanabe class discovered low-cost funding for an immensely profitable yen-USD carry trade. In South Korea, Ajummas have apparently discovered crypto.

Supercharged with gains like XRP’s 400% in one month, Ajummas are outperforming their Japanese counterparts in spades.

XRP has quadrupled within a month and climbed crypto leaderboards with olympic speed, now ranking third worldwide. It has surpassed tether (USDT), Binance Coin (BNB), and Solana (SOL) in size, and is third only to BTC and ETH.

XRP Army tallies its winnings

News flow for XRP has been positive in recent weeks. XRP leaders recently launched a stablecoin and real-world asset (RWA) platform and Ripple secured a partial victory in its widely misinterpreted SEC lawsuit. Its founders also embraced lobbying and donated millions to political campaigns.

Large asset managers like WisdomTree, Bitwise, and Canary Capital have filed S-1 applications to list spot XRP ETFs on US exchanges. Those applications would have gone nowhere under SEC Chairman Gary Gensler but might have renewed hope under a new 2025 chair in Donald Trump’s incoming administration.

All these successes have paid off. South Koreans who bought XRP at any time in the past except the first week of 2018 are currently in profit.

Read more: SEC wants 2nd Circuit to overrule Ripple XRP decision

Skiddish Ajummas and newfound riches

Although South Korea might be celebrating the XRP bull market high, some cautious Ajummas are already locking in their profits.

Jaded by years of underperformance, South Koreans remain skeptical that XRP has long-term staying power. Some Koreans like Ryan Kim even allege that Ripple was partly responsible for a historical, doomed scheme called Ripple Market Korea. (The involvement of Ripple in this organization is indeterminate.)

Other Koreans remember what happened with Terra LUNA. South Korea turned founder Do Kwon into a national lesson when his crypto project imploded in 2022. Kwon lost investors like the Ajummas untold fortunes as his empire of tens of billions collapsed to near-$0. 

The LUNA collapse was a national story and devastated so many Ajummas that media reports even tied some tragic deaths to the incident.

In South Korea, the name Do Kwon will live in infamy. A South Korean court was first to issue a warrant for his arrest and Kwon physically fled the country, claiming that he moved to Singapore due to concerns about his family’s safety.

After months as an international fugitive, authorities finally arrested him in Montenegro.

Although LUNA has very little to do with XRP, the memory of quick riches and even quicker losses are front-of-mind for the historically conservative Ajummas community.

If XRP cannot hold onto its gains, it could provide even more disappointment to South Koreans still stinging from LUNA’s meltdown two years ago.

Got a tip? Send us an email or ProtonMail. For more informed news, follow us on X, Instagram, Bluesky, and Google News, or subscribe to our YouTube channel.

The post XRP craze in South Korea reminds traders of LUNA meltdown appeared first on Protos.

South Korea and the US have explicitly stated that its mutual defense treaty, signed in 1953, applies to threats made in outer space and cyberspace.

The joint statement was made on Thursday in Washington, following a defense meeting between the two countries that last took place three years prior. Future cyber threats made to either country will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis to see if it will trigger the defense pact.

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said in the press conference, “We also affirmed that attacks in space or cyberspace that clearly challenge the security of the alliance could lead us to invoke Article III of the Mutual Defense Treaty.”

The US and South Korea have previously faced large-scale cyberattacks from North Korea that would have likely triggered the mutual defense treaty.

Read more: US Treasury sanctions OTC traders for aiding Lazarus hackers

In a recent indictment, North Korean government hacking group Andariel was accused by the Department of Justice of laundering crypto ransom payments to buy infrastructure that led to attacks on two US Air Force bases, the NASA Office of Inspector General, and several South Korean entities.

South Korea and US face rising cyber threats from North Korea, Russia

The decision to define cyberspace and outer space threats in the mutual defense treaty comes amid growing concerns that Russia may be aiding North Korea with technological advancements, which would likely include cyberwarfare, in return for North Korean boots on the ground in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Growing cyberthreats from China are also top of mind. According to the Korea Herald, the US has 6,000 cyber warfare hackers — compared to China’s 100,000+ and Russia’s 200,000+.

Got a tip? Send us an email or ProtonMail. For more informed news, follow us on X, Instagram, Bluesky, and Google News, or subscribe to our YouTube channel.

The post US and South Korea defense pact extends to cyberwarfare, outer space appeared first on Protos.

On the first day of a dramatic National Assembly audit in Seoul, lawmakers demanded a special investigation into the KOK cryptocurrency scam that may have been promoted by South Korea’s right-wing top daily paper, the Chosun Ilbo.

According to Aju Press, a coalition of victims is accusing two subsidiaries of Chosun Ilbo of promoting the crypto despite knowing that it was fraudulent. Jin Eun-ja, the coalition’s leader, believes these positive promotions were then used by scammers to reassure concerned investors that KOK was legitimate — and that the newspaper contributed to a delay in prosecution.

It’s estimated that KOK has caused 4 trillion won ($2.97 billion) in damages in South Korea alone.

South Korea’s investigation into the KOK crypto fraud is led by the Ulsan District Prosecutor’s Office and has been ongoing for several years. No significant breakthroughs have been made, but South Korea is still awaiting the extradition of a major KOK suspect known only as ‘Mr. Han.’ He was arrested in the US earlier this year and is reportedly gambling with victims’ cash while out on bail.

The coalition of victims have therefore called for a separate, more thorough probe to expedite accountability — sentiments which were reportedly echoed by Democratic Party lawmakers Yang Moon-suk and Min Hyung-bae during the audit on Monday.

Read more: Do Kwon was leverage in South Korea airport deal, ex-minister claims

Chosun Ilbo gave grand prize to KOK crypto scam

The KOK token attracted nearly 2 million investors worldwide from 2019 to 2023. Korean movies and games provided on its content platform, KOK PLAY, could be consumed with KOK tokens, which in turn could be exchanged for bitcoin at a 7-12% commission.

Investors would also receive commissions for luring in other investors, essentially operating as a Ponzi scheme and multi-level marketing scheme.

According to Aju Press, an important KOK milestone was reported on by Chosun Ilbo’s business news arm, IT Chosun, back in April 2022. Two months later, KOK was awarded a grand prize for “consumer satisfaction” by another subsidiary, Digital Chosun.

This is not the first (or second) time that the newspaper has faced allegations of wrongful reporting. Its former editor Song Hee-young was accused of receiving 100 million won ($72,000) from a shipping firm and its PR agency in exchange for favorable coverage and a luxury trip to Europe.

In a twist of events, Song was sentenced to one year in prison and two years probation before an appeals court found him not guilty. This decision was then overturned by the Supreme Court in March; the high court is expected to reopen his case.

Got a tip? Send us an email or ProtonMail. For more informed news, follow us on X, Instagram, Bluesky, and Google News, or subscribe to our YouTube channel.

The post Top Korean paper knew its award went to $3B crypto scam, victims say appeared first on Protos.

Do Kwon’s controversial extradition to South Korea could have been part of a trade deal that would give the country control of Montenegro’s airports for 30 years, according to the former Justice Minister.

Andrej Milović, who is now running for mayor, told publisher Vijesti that Prime Minister Milojko Spajić would use Do Kwon as a tool to trade state interests and resources “as compensation for covering up this case.”

Spajić supposedly prepared for months to give France concession over Montenegro’s airports. However, Milović says that he began to “speak positively” about a South Korean airport deal after the court of appeal ruled that Do should be extradited to South Korea.

“Therefore, I ask Spajić, did he extort extradition in order to cover up the case, in exchange for the Montenegrin Airport concession?” he said.  

He added, “By extraditing Do Kwon to South Korea, we would not learn the complete truth about the Do Kwon case, the role of Spajić, Abazović and other actors.”

The airport concession proposal has reportedly been in the works for years as South Korea’s Incheon Airport, Luxemburg-based Corporacion America Airports, and France’s Paris Airports wait to present their final offer. The new proposal would involve a 30-year concession plan.

Spajić has been accused of meeting Do Kwon on various occasions and SEC filings show he invested $75,000 to buy tokens from Do’s catastrophic Terraform/Luna crypto venture. 

This summer, Montenegro’s High Court and Court of Appeal ruled that Do was going to be extradited to South Korea. However, on September 19, the Supreme Court decided these rulings were illegal and left it up to Justice Minister Bojan Božović to decide on Do’s extradition. 

Got a tip? Send us an email or ProtonMail. For more informed news, follow us on X, Instagram, Bluesky, and Google News, or subscribe to our YouTube channel.

The post Do Kwon was leverage in South Korea airport deal, ex-minister claims appeared first on Protos.

Police in South Korea have arrested the leader of a 16 billion won ($12 million) cryptocurrency scam who underwent almost $16,000 worth of plastic surgery to evade authorities. 

As reported by the Straits Times, the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency says the scammer was on the run for 10 months after failing to attend a pre-trial detention hearing in September 2023. 

During his time as a fugitive, the man reportedly spent 21 million won ($15,746) on plastic surgery to alter his appearance, specifically his eyes, nose, and the shape of his face. He is also said to have worn a number of wigs. 

Read more: Bitsonic chief sentenced to 7 years for crypto theft in South Korea

Police claim that the man is behind a cryptocurrency mining scam that promised investors a monthly return of 18% and managed to defraud 158 victims between November 2021 and June 2022. Victims’ losses ranged from 1.2 million won ($900) to 250 million won ($188,000). 

Despite the plastic surgery, the man was caught in the South Korean province of Gyeonggi in August after police tracked him to his apartment using phone records, internet history, and surveillance footage.

South Korea crypto CEO stabbed while on trial for fraud 

Earlier this week, also in South Korea, the CEO of South Korean crypto deposit service Haru Invest was stabbed several times in the neck while attending a court hearing. 

The man, known as Lee, was facing charges alongside two other executives for allegedly stealing 1.1 trillion won ($825 million) worth of crypto from around 16,000 users.

The attacker was reportedly a victim of Haru Invest. Reuters reports that Lee’s injuries are not life-threatening and that the attacker has been arrested. 

Got a tip? Send us an email or ProtonMail. For more informed news, follow us on X, Instagram, Bluesky, and Google News, or subscribe to our YouTube channel.

The post South Korea crypto scammer had plastic surgery to evade police appeared first on Protos.

Do Kwon’s extradition to the US has been rejected by Montenegro’s Appellate Court after it upheld the High Court’s ruling that he should be extradited to South Korea.

The appeals court shared the announcement, which appears to be final, today. 

It said, translated from Montenegrin, “There was no appeal against the aforementioned decision, so the decision of the High Court in Podgorica, in the part in which extradition is allowed in a shortened procedure at the request of the Republic of Korea, is legally binding.” 

The court deemed that the High Court correctly established the legal conditions for both the US and South Korea to petition for Do Kwon’s extradition and that South Korea’s request had arrived first.  

Read more: Do Kwon can’t leave Montenegro, but owes the US millions

This may mean the end of back-and-forth rulings in the extradition of the Terraform founder. Protos reported in March this year that Do’s extradition status had changed at least seven times. Since then, it changed several times more before today’s conclusion. 

Indeed, Do’s lawyer Goran Rodic told Radio Free Europe that this decision comes after 16 months of extradition proceedings. He said, “This is the second legally binding court decision on the extradition of Do Kwon to South Korea,” noting it is, “fully in accordance with the law.”

Rodic also told Bloomberg that Montenegro and Interpol will arrange his extradition and that he hopes it will happen “as soon as possible.” 

Got a tip? Send us an email or ProtonMail. For more informed news, follow us on X, Instagram, Bluesky, and Google News, or subscribe to our YouTube channel.

The post Do Kwon finally set for South Korea extradition after court rejects US petition appeared first on Protos.

Do Kwon’s extradition to South Korea has been revoked by Montengero’s Supreme Court, sending the case back to the High Court to face a re-decision 

Monetengro’s Appellate Court ruled on March 20 that Do Kwon would be extradited to South Korea. However, the Supreme Court intervened on March 22, delaying his extradition and allowing more time to clarify the legality of his case. 

Now, today’s ruling states that the lower courts overstepped their powers. In a translated press release, the Supreme Court stated, “In the specific case, the first-instance court could not make a decision in abbreviated proceedings, and especially could not make a decision on extradition, by which it allows or refuses extradition, which is decided by the Minister of Justice.”

Read more: Do Kwon escapes extradition yet again, goes to migrant centre

It said the first instance court should determine if the legal conditions for extradition, in relation to each petitioning country, have been met and only then, “the competent minister, not the court, decides on the permission and order of priority of extradition.”

As a result, Do Kwon’s extradition case has been returned to the court of first instance, the High Court in Podgorica, for re-decision, continuing a back-and-forth legal battle to extradite the disgraced crypto mogul. 

Got a tip? Send us an email or ProtonMail. For more informed news, follow us on X, Instagram, Bluesky, and Google News, or subscribe to our YouTube channel.

The post Do Kwon extradition reversed yet again in Supreme Court ruling appeared first on Protos.

US prosecutors are set to challenge the Montenegrin High Court’s decision to send Do Kwon to South Korea, raising the potential for another U-turn in the Terraform Labs founder’s extradition process.  

On Thursday, the court approved Do’s extradition to South Korea with even Do’s lawyers admitting that it was his most likely destination on March 23. 

However, the US Justice Department told Bloomberg the same day that it will also continue to pursue Do’s extradition. It said, “The United States appreciates the cooperation of the Montenegrin authorities in ensuring that all individuals are subject to the rule of law.”

Do Kwon and his ever-changing extradition status

Do’s extradition proceedings started back in March 2023 following his bodged escape to Dubai. Since then, his extradition has been repeatedly appealed, approved, and appealed again, with its status changing at least seven times since November 2023. 

Read more: SEC says Do Kwon’s fraud so obvious that no trial is needed

Do faces charges in both South Korea and the US. However, the managing director of Swan Bitcoin, Terrence Yang, told Bloomberg he believes he should be extradited to the US due to the number of affected victims there following the $42 billion Terra/Luna collapse. 

He said, “It seems a bit ridiculous for the Montenegro court to extradite Do Kwon to South Korea, where he might get acquitted or a comically light sentence as opposed to the United States.”

Do Kwon’s current extradition approval to South Korea can still be appealed but his lawyer reportedly made no suggestion that this is what he’ll do.

Got a tip? Send us an email or ProtonMail. For more informed news, follow us on X, Instagram, Bluesky, and Google News, or subscribe to our YouTube channel.

The post Somebody extradite Do Kwon already appeared first on Protos.

South Korean authorities are set to probe Sam Altman’s Worldcoin following complaints about the unorthodox methods the iris-scanning firm uses to collect its data.

According to South Korea’s Personal Information Protection Commission, its investigation, which began on February 29, will establish if Worldcoin has breached the Personal Information Protection Act. The authority said “if violations are confirmed,” it will “take action in accordance with relevant laws and regulations.”

The press release, translated via Google, said the South Korea Worldcoin investigation will look into “the overall collection and processing of sensitive information and overseas transfer of personal information.” It also noted that Worldcoin and ‘affiliates’ are reportedly collecting facial and iris data in 10 locations across South Korea. 

Read more: Worldcoin can damage economy and amplify fraud, Kenya MPs hear

Last year, Kenya launched its own probe into Worldcoin, voicing concerns that the company could impact the country’s monetary policy, cybersecurity, and increase fraud and scams. The UK, France, and Germany also probed Worldcoin last year.

Worldcoin tried to shake off its dystopian image when it announced plans to redesign its iris-scanning orb to look “much more friendly,” and similar to “an Apple product.”

The price of Worldcoin’s WLD token, however, hasn’t been negatively impacted. Indeed, it’s risen roughly 218% since February, jumping from $2.20 to $7 today. 

Got a tip? Send us an email or ProtonMail. For more informed news, follow us on X, Instagram, Bluesky, and Google News, or subscribe to our YouTube channel.

The post South Korea vows to ‘take action’ if Worldcoin violations are confirmed appeared first on Protos.