Bitcoin’s price rebound from early April has been accompanied by a sharp rise in South Korean demand and mounting on-chain profit-taking, according to CryptoQuant data. The Korea Premium Index (KPI), which gauges the price gap between Bitcoin on Korean exchanges and the global volume-weighted average, surged to 1.98% on May 7—its highest reading since late February. This represents a stark turnaround from early March, when the index dropped to a discount of 2.27% following the U.S.-Iran conflict.
South Korea’s strict capital controls and KYC requirements make BTC arbitrage virtually impossible, so the KPI serves as a pure measure of local buying pressure. While the premium has since cooled to 0.77%, the spike underscores regionally isolated demand. Meanwhile, CryptoQuant’s research head Julio Moreno reported that holders realized 14,600 BTC in profits on May 4, the largest single-day total since December 10, 2025. The Short-Term Holder Spent Output Profit Ratio (STH-SOPR) has remained above 1.0 since mid-April, reaching 1.016—placing the market firmly in “clear profit-taking territory.”
On a 30-day rolling basis, net realized profits hit 20,000 BTC, a dramatic reversal from deficits as deep as -398,000 BTC during the February-March sell-off. Unrealized profit margins have recovered to ~18%, the highest since June 2025, a level that historically encourages distribution. “This distinction reinforces the bear market rally classification rather than a structural regime change,” Moreno noted, adding that net profits remain far below the 130,000–200,000 BTC range typical of bear-to-bull transitions.
Despite the profit-taking signals, CryptoQuant observes that perpetual futures demand continues to grow, spot demand contraction is mild, and exchange inflows remain muted—suggesting a correction may not be imminent. However, the setup “carries meaningful correction risk” if Bitcoin consolidates near recent highs. Moreno advises investors to monitor realized-profit metrics over price action alone.
