Entering the weekend, Bitcoin’s price was unable to maintain the bullish momentum it displayed earlier in the past week. Since Friday, January 16, the world’s leading cryptocurrency, rejected by the price resistance above, is now trading within a tight consolidation circle. Interestingly, this period of lull is considered transitory as recent on-chain data indicates an exciting time ahead for the BTC price.
Kimchi Premium is running positively as local demand increases
In a January 17 post on the X Platform, DeFi asset management platform XWIN Finance issued an on-chain report, suggesting Bitcoin may be closer to reaching a turning point than its price action suggests.
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This hypothesis is based on the Bitcoin Kimchi Premium indicator. This measures the percentage difference between the price of a cryptocurrency (in this case Bitcoin) on South Korean exchanges and the price on global exchanges. Simply put, it shows how much more Korean traders are willing to pay for Bitcoin.
When Kimchi Premium moves steadily from low or negative levels to above historically significant levels, this is typically seen as a long signal from the metric. This interpretation comes because a rising Kimchi Premium reflects growing local demand in South Korea, mostly influenced by private buyers.
Essentially, Korean buyers are willing to pay more for Bitcoin, overwhelming the available supply and pushing prices up.
In the post on X, XWIN Finance highlighted that this long signal had been observed on the indicator. History also testifies to the positive meaning of this signal; there have been large price moves upwards following sustained increases in Kimchi Premium.
An example is the last observation of the long signal in October 2023, when the index rose above a key threshold, as shown in the chart above. Bitcoin price witnessed a 370% rally after this signal went off in 2023.
According to XWIN Research, this same pattern appears to be playing out again in 2026. Therefore, if the Kimchi Premium completes its long signal formation, it could be a sign that buyers are taking favorable positions for a bullish ride.
If history repeats itself, Bitcoin price could be on track to witness another exciting journey, with the flagship cryptocurrency potentially sparking a surge of over 300% in the next cycle.
However, it is worth noting that macro conditions, institutional demand and derivatives activity would play their role in increasing the plausibility of the pattern as it should not be taken as a standalone bullish sign.
Bitcoin price at a glance
At the time of writing, the price of BTC is around $95,280, reflecting no significant change in the past 24 hours.
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Featured image from iStock, chart from TradingView