Did the DNA of old-time investors just kick in? Why are cross-cycle veteran cryptocurrencies rising collectively?
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Did the DNA of old-time investors just kick in? Why are cross-cycle veteran cryptocurrencies rising collectively?
The Korean aunties who bought their riverside mansions in Jiangnan with XRP last cycle are back to show the market the power of kimchi again.
Navigating Web3 tides with focused insightsWritten by: 1912212.eth, Foresight News
Although Bitcoin has continued to struggle at the $100,000 psychological level, capital is clearly flowing into the altcoin market. Data shows that Bitcoin's market dominance has dropped to 55.25%, while Ethereum's has risen to 12.74%. The ETH/BTC exchange rate has steadily held above 0.037, and smaller-cap altcoins have now entered their moment in the spotlight.
In the public blockchain sector, ADA surged over 15% today, trading around $1.30. Its weekly chart shows a rare five-week consecutive gain, delivering over 400% returns from its bottom of $0.30. FTM rose more than 17% today, trading near $1.20. AVAX gained over 10% today and over 20% in the past seven days, while XRP posted a 7-day gain exceeding 85%, currently trading at $2.70.
In the RWA sector, ONDO even hit a new all-time high, currently priced at $1.65 with a 24-hour gain over 35% and a 7-day increase surpassing 64%. In DeFi, LINK rose 24.49%, MKR climbed 16.08%, and AAVE recorded gains exceeding 11%.
What’s driving this bullish momentum?
Tether Mints $16 Billion New USDT on Ethereum and TRON
According to Lookonchain, Tether Treasury minted an additional 1 billion USDT early this morning around 6 a.m. Since November 6, Tether Treasury has cumulatively minted 16 billion new USDT across the Ethereum and TRON blockchains.
USDC's market cap has also surged from $15 billion at the beginning of the month to nearly $40 billion.
The total stablecoin market cap has now surpassed $193.9 billion, reaching a new record high with a 7-day increase of 2.3%.
This continuous growth in stablecoin market cap indicates fresh capital continues to enter the market, chasing smaller-cap projects. Following the surge in newer projects, established ones are now enjoying their own revival.
U.S. Regulatory Shift Brings Positive Catalysts
Hunter Horsley, CEO of Bitwise, recently stated: "Over the past 30 days, Coinbase's market cap increased by approximately $30 billion, and XRP's market cap grew by about $100 billion. The U.S. shift from regulatory resistance to regulatory support is one of the biggest and most important structural catalysts the crypto space has seen. And its impact has only just begun."
Donald Trump is set to officially assume office as the next U.S. president on January 20 next year. However, he has already been actively shaping his administration—planning to expand the CFTC’s regulatory authority over crypto and clarify jurisdictional boundaries with the SEC. Additionally, according to FOX Business reporters citing sources, Trump will announce the successor to the SEC chair tomorrow.
Since current SEC Chair Gary Gensler announced he will step down when Trump takes office, the market has been eagerly anticipating his replacement. While the exact candidate remains unknown, there is broad consensus that the next SEC chair will move away from Gensler’s strict stance and adopt a more crypto-friendly approach.
Observant investors have noticed that leading gainers such as legacy tokens ADA and XRP have soared amid this policy shift. On the news front, WisdomTree submitted an S-1 registration form for an XRP ETF to the U.S. SEC. ADA, along with XRP and SOL, has also been listed on Robinhood US.
As early as November 25, DWF founder Andrei Grachev analyzed that the U.S. election would significantly impact the market, noting that in the short term, U.S.-based projects and top-tier VCs would be the most profitable.
Korean Market Seeing Surge in Buying Pressure
Korea’s enthusiasm for cryptocurrency speculation was already legendary during the last bull cycle. With recent price increases, Korean buying pressure has intensified.
On Korea’s major crypto exchanges Upbit and Bithumb, the number of user accounts held by those aged 60 or older reached 775,700 (as of end-September), up 30.4% from the end of 2021. This age group collectively holds 6.7609 trillion KRW in crypto assets, averaging about 8.72 million KRW per investor. Meanwhile, the combined demand deposit balance at Korea’s five largest banks stood at 592.67 trillion KRW, down 26.95 trillion KRW from the end of June—the lowest since January this year.
In November 2024, CryptoQuant data showed that the monthly stablecoin trading volume on Korea’s top five CEXs—Upbit, Bithumb, Coinone, Korbit, and GOPAX—was approximately 16.17 trillion KRW ($11.5 billion). This figure includes total buy/sell volumes of stablecoins such as Tether (USDT) and USDC issued by Circle, and represents a sevenfold increase compared to the roughly 2 trillion KRW recorded at the beginning of the year. It marks the first time Korea’s monthly stablecoin trading volume has exceeded 10 trillion KRW.
Demand for XRP has been especially intense. Ryan Kim, partner at Korea’s largest crypto venture firm Hashed, noted on social media that Ripple Labs ran a “Ripple Market Korea” project in 2014, selling XRP in what resembled a Ponzi scheme, attracting many Korean investors. These early participants may have realized substantial profits, and Korea now has a genuine XRP community—explaining why Koreans are aggressively buying XRP again.
Data from CoinGecko shows that South Korean CEX Upbit recorded a 24-hour trading volume of $18.449 billion, ranking second among centralized exchanges globally. Binance, ranked first, had a daily volume of $50.572 billion yesterday.
The so-called “Trump effect,” combined with rate cut expectations, is accelerating the shift of Korean capital from bank deposits into risk assets.
Summary
In November alone, inflows into Bitcoin spot ETFs reached $6.5 billion—a new record high and far exceeding any other month this year. Supported by ongoing ETF buying, BTC prices remain strong, while significant capital flows out from Bitcoin and Ethereum into various sectors and both new and established projects. Matrixport analysis suggests that if Trump’s nominations for the Treasury and SEC are confirmed, the crypto narrative could evolve into a DeFi revival. The crypto market may continue its volatile upward trend until Trump’s official inauguration.
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