The markets are rallying exuberantly for BTC for a couple of reasons this March.
Institutional investors bought deep after the SEC opened up Wall Street access to Bitcoin price exposure through custodial spot ETFs. That only adds to the scarcity shock with the supply halving coming up next month.
However, many blockchain crypto trading strategists think it is hard to overstate the importance of the ETF approvals by the Securities and Exchange Commission. The new paradigm does not merely allow regulated investors to do so.
It caps off a year of incredibly welcoming and accommodating policies for Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies in United States courtrooms and legislatures. The risk of the U.S. passing onerous regulations has long been an important headwind for Bitcoin prices in the market.
As a result of the SEC approving Bitcoin ETFs, that threat is vastly diminished. Instead, you can now buy some of the base layer blockchain cryptocurrency on Wall Street from the same place you can buy a company share of Coca-Cola or Chevrolet.
But it’s not just a party in the USA for Bitcoin this year. Here are seven signals that Bitcoin is still rocking the world outside the United States in 2024.
1. Kimchi Premium Tops 2-Yr High
The kimchi premium, the amount that Koreans pay above the global average prices for Bitcoin at exchange, rose to a 27-month high of 10.32% on Mar. 6, signaling a surge in demand for BTC from South Koreans.
Crypto traders and saver-investors in South Korea pay higher prices for Bitcoin than most of the world because strict local capital controls create an ongoing shortage of BTC in the East Asian peninsula nation. It’s named the kimchi premium after the signature Korean spicy cabbage dish.
2. El Salvador Holdings Up 50%
The Latin American nation of El Salvador has profited from its government’s investment in Bitcoin to hold in its national treasury. The Central American nation purchased its 2,380 Bitcoins at an average price of $44,300. Meanwhile, the total investment of $105 million is up over 50% and is worth some $166 million today.
The nation of El Salvador overwhelmingly reelected President Nayib Bukele for another term based on the popularity of his crime-reduction policies and forward-thinking about the world. Bukele took the initiative starting in 2021 to officially adopt Bitcoin as a government-approved legal tender.
3. Nigerians and Venezuelans Save in Bitcoin
The Atlanta, Georgia non-profit Foundation for Economic Education (FEE) recently reported that Nigeria is following Venezuela’s trend of over-indexing on Bitcoin adoption to use the secure, inflation-resistant cryptocurrency as a shelter for their savings from catastrophic hyper-inflation in the Nigerian Naira and Venezeulan Bolívar.
Both nations have economies that rely heavily on crude oil exports. Combined with severe mismanagement of the financial system by the governments in both countries for decades, periods of high inflation in U.S. dollars stoke hyperinflation in these vassals of the global petro-dollar economy. Bitcoin has given people who live there a way to keep their savings from turning into mice and pumpkins after the central banks have a ball with the printing press.
Right-wingers like President Bukele enthusiastically support Bitcoin because it could out-compete the currencies of several left-wing nations like Venezuela and Nigeria. But left-wingers may one day begin to adopt Bitcoin with the moral fervor of their counterparts in order to help people in developing economies find a way to save their money.
4. Japan Investment Funds to Hodl
It looks like Japan is clearing the way to allow private venture capital firms to hold Bitcoin. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s administration agreed in February to submit a bill to the government with the changes added to an earlier version his cabinet had approved.
The text of the bill says that “measures will be taken to add cryptoassets to the list of assets that can be acquired and held by investment limited partnerships.” Kishida’s economic agenda to grow Japan’s GDP includes embracing Web 3.0 technologies and easing some of the nation’s restrictions on cryptocurrencies.
5. German Regulated Spot Platform Launches
Germany is the largest economy in Europe in terms of gross domestic product. It just got a new regulated spot crypto platform launched by a domestic capital market firm. German bank Deutsche Boerse announced on Mar. 5 that it had launched a government-regulated cryptocurrency exchange for crypto investors.
The German capital market company announced plans for the exchange last year. It received licenses in February from local regulators. German banking giant DZ Bank announced in February that it will launch a crypto trading service in 2024.
A survey in July 2023 found that 50% of Germans view cryptocurrency favorably as a long-term investment. Meanwhile, 22% suspect it could make them rich overnight.
6. Coinbase Moves to France
While Germans celebrate a new exchange with a schnitzel and a Fanta, the French will soon be able to log in to Coinbase to trade crypto. The San Francisco cryptocurrency exchange started off the year with approval from local regulators to operate in France. Like Japan’s Kishida, French President Emmanuel Macron plans to make his country a major crossroads for AI and crypto.
Furthermore, he has promised billions of euros in government subsidies to help fund French projects. According to French data firm Toluna, 10% of French adults own crypto, and 24% say they plan to buy, sell, or trade such assets in the next year.
7. VanEck Spot Bitcoin ETF in Australia
U.S. exchange-traded fund (ETF) manager VanEck is moving toward launching a spot Bitcoin ETF for the Australian market. Van Eck Australia chief executive Arian Neiron recently said that his company has received a “significant uptick” in demand for a Bitcoin ETF listed on the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX).
Neiron said in a statement that the company still needs approval from the financial regulator, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC).
“There are still a number of hurdles from a regulatory and exchange framework perspective that must be worked through, as well as approval from ASIC before we will see a bitcoin ETF on ASX,” he stated.
