Bitcoin Flash Crash to $61K on Upbit as South Korea Declares Martial Law

Bitcoin's price went through a flash crash on South Korea's Upbit, dropping by 30% in minutes.

Bitcoin’s price experienced what many in the industry refer to as a “flash crash” on the largest cryptocurrency exchange in South Korea—Upbit. It dropped to a low of around $61,500 (its equivalent in Korean Won) and immediately recovered.

Source: TradingView

As you can see in the 1-minute chart above, the whole fiasco took less than 15 minutes, during which time Bitcoin’s price crashed to 88,260,000 KRW. This represented a decrease of around 30%, realized in less than a few minutes. Almost immediately after that, the cryptocurrency recovered.

The primary reason for this price action seems to be the announcement that South Korea’s president, Yoon Suk Yeol, declared martial law during his speech in Seoul just a few moments ago.

The political turmoil in the country has caused market unrest, resulting in considerable volatility across the board.

Meanwhile, Bitcoin trades at around $95,500 across most global exchanges, down 1.6% for the day. As CryptoPotato reported earlier, several analysts are predicting a prolonged correction that could even see its price trade as low as $90,000.

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George Georgiev
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Georgi Georgiev is CryptoPotato's editor-in-chief and a seasoned writer with over 8 years of experience writing about blockchain and cryptocurrencies. Georgi's passion for Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies bloomed in late 2016 and he hasn't looked back since. Crypto’s technological and economic implications are what interest him most, and he has one eye turned to the market whenever he’s not sleeping.