Monero Price Pierces $150 After Bithumb Opens XMR/KRW Trading
The Monero price has initiated an impressive rally during the latter half of August, culminating in a 7-day rise of 100% between August 21 and August 28. Although there are other factors at play, including a general upswing in anonymity-centric altcoin prices, most of this movement should be attributed to the introduction of XMR/KRW trading on Bithumb.
Bithumb Adds XMR/KRW Trading Pair
Last week, the rally began when Bithumb announced it was about to add support for Monero to its cryptocurrency exchange. Bithumb, which is based in South Korea, boasts the highest trading volume of any exchange. Significantly, Bithumb also accounts for the majority of KRW trading volume within the cryptocurrency ecosystem. Although several other exchanges offer KRW pairs, their volume is generally far below that of Bithumb.
The Monero price immediately spiked to $95 following the announcement. Monero tapered a bit the following day but resumed its rally on August 25 when Bithumb began accepting XMR deposits. This caused the Monero price to rocket past $100 for a new all-time record.
The Monero price continued to climb as traders rushed to deposit their coins on Bithumb. Ultimately, XMR pierced $150 on August 28 as Monero trading opened on Bithumb. This represents a 7-day price increase of more than 100%. For the month, the XMR price is up more than 249%.
Monero Price, Volume Soar on Bithumb
Although Bithumb only enabled XMR/KRW trading a few hours ago, volume has already exceeded $200 million. This number surpasses the combined 24-hour volume of XMR trading on all other exchanges, which currently sits at $194 million. At present, Monero is trading at $156 on Bithumb–a full $12 higher than the CoinMarketCap average of other exchange prices.
Monero is not the only coin currently experiencing a trading volume surge on Bithumb. Litecoin has climbed past $60 today, in part due to more than $200 million of LTC/KRW action on the same exchange. Bithumb traders have a history of pumping coins, so don’t be surprised if Monero continues to ascend to new records this week.
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