Koreans ‘pump’ alts after Upbit hack, China BTC mining surge: Asia Express

How the $36 million hack of Upbit led to surging altcoin prices, China’s mining ban less effective than ever, Thailand vs WRLD: Asia Express

Korean crypto traders are having an outsize effect on local altcoin prices following a major hack at South Korean exchange Upbit, according to CryptoQuant CEO Ki Young Ju.

Upbit got hacked and paused withdrawals, but Koreans are pumping alts since arbitrage bots are no longer running, Ju said in an X post on Thursday, shortly after the exchange halted transaction activity after detecting an abnormal transaction with a value of around $36 million.

With arbitrage activity suspended, local buy orders are having more significant pressure on prices, allowing Korean-listed altcoins to surge, as the selling pressure that typically puts a ceiling on price increases has disappeared.

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