Bitcoin Hits $80,000 as South Korea Reviews Digital Asset Law
Bitcoin (BTC)
Editor:
Eugene Serbin
Bitcoin has surged past $80,000 for the first time in three months, driven by a weakening U.S. dollar and sustained inflows into spot exchange-traded funds. According to digitaltoday.co.kr, the asset reached an intraday high of $81,237 on August 25 before settling around $78,900 on the morning of August 27. This rally coincides with the U.S. Treasury’s plan to curb long-term interest rate rises by purchasing government bonds, which has increased demand for alternative assets like Bitcoin.
U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded $2.57 billion in net inflows over seven trading sessions ending August 25. In the United States, the CLARITY Act and the GENIUS Act are advancing regulatory clarity, with the latter set to take effect on January 18, 2027. Meanwhile, South Korea is restarting discussions on a basic digital asset law to facilitate institutional changes.
Democratic Party lawmaker Min Byeong-deok urged the National Assembly to expedite legislative procedures for the new law. The proposed legislation may limit major shareholders’ stakes to 20 percent, with a compromise allowing up to 34 percent for new operators. Financial authorities are also preparing guidelines to allow listed companies to trade digital assets, though actual corporate trading remains low with only 29 active accounts. An industry official noted that for the U.S.-led rally to trigger institutional change in South Korea, specific regulations for spot ETFs and stablecoins must be established simultaneously.
How the market reacted
Whalio's own Binance spot order flow for BTC, measured when this story was written up on 27 August 2026. Not the outlet's figures.
Whalio’s Binance spot data shows Bitcoin trading at $79,023.75 with a 24-hour buy ratio of 49.9%, indicating a near-even split between buyers and sellers. The 1-hour buy ratio of 42.1% and the 4-hour buy ratio of 47.1% suggest that short-term buying pressure is slightly weaker than the daily average. Volume delta has been negative across all timeframes, with a 24-hour total of -$903,088, meaning sellers have slightly outweighed buyers in recent hours. CVD for the 24-hour close stands at -$79,368,911, confirming that net selling pressure has dominated the day’s flow. The buy ratio represents the percentage of volume executed on the buy side, while volume delta measures the net difference between buy and sell volume.
The latest daily buy ratio of 46.7% sits at the 18th percentile of the last 322 days, against a median of 49.2% - weaker buying than most days.
Twenty-four hours later
What BTC did over the 24 hours after the story broke. The market moves for its own reasons; this is what happened, not what the story caused.
Was that an ordinary day?
The same Binance spot measurements for BTC, averaged over the days leading up to the story.
Over the preceding week, the average buy ratio was 51.6%, making today’s 49.9% reading slightly below the weekly norm. Spot volume for the last 24 hours was $1,148,236,056, which is 0.54 times the weekly average, indicating significantly lower trading activity than usual. The coin experienced net buying on six of the past seven days, with a total volume delta of +$445,688,281 over eight days. This recent day is an unusual one in terms of volume, as activity is roughly half of what is typical for this coin over the past week.