North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-Un, has not been seen in public for over two weeks now. Several publications are now reporting that he is brain-dead after a sloppy cardiovascular surgery that left him in a “vegetative state”.
While the downfall of a dictator is likely to be seized upon with glee by some, North Korea owns a vast stash of cryptocurrency and could sell this crypto, thus igniting a waterfall event in the crypto markets.
Kim Jong-un’s Death Could Trigger Sell-Off Of $670 Million Worth Of Crypto
Unless you have been living under a rock, you’d know about Kim Jong-Un’s apparent death. The speculations of his death or brain-dead state intensified after he failed to show up at the Sun ceremony which is a monumental day to commemorate North Korea founder Kim Il-sung.
Whether Kim Jong-un is unwell or healthy remains a mystery – one with many possible repercussions.
You might be wondering how this is correlated with the crypto markets. For starters, North Korea has been facing numerous United Nations embargos since 2006. In a report last year, the UN revealed that the Hermit Kingdom had amassed to the tune of $2 billion in cryptocurrency from pilfering crypto exchanges. It is believed that this funding is used for the country’s nuclear missiles program.
At this very moment, it’s unclear exactly how much crypto North Korea has accumulated as it tries to circumvent sanctions, but some reports suggest that it is definitely more than $670 million.
A few days ago, a Twitter account going by the name Russian Market averred that if Kim Jong-un’s death is officially confirmed, a massive bitcoin sell-off would ensue if the new leader feels the need to sell the country’s crypto assets.
Respected Economist Alex Kruger Dismisses North Korea’s Possible Crypto Sell-Off
While some are convinced that Kim Jong-un’s death would seriously affect the bitcoin market, economist-cum-trader Alex Kruger dismissed this idea.
Kruger satirically noted that North Korea possesses uranium mines containing million tons of uranium core, and official confirmation of Kim Jong-un’s death should trigger a massive uranium sell-off.
He also cited North Korea’s gigantic fish market which should be affected should Kim Jong-un be pronounced dead.
The fact that bitcoin can be sold easily unlike uranium or fish should not be ignored. However, there is a fat chance North Korea is not about to dump its cryptocurrency war chest unless it is in dire need of fiat currency.
Moreover, South Korea’s national security adviser Moon Chung-in refuted the claims about Kim Jong-un’s grave health conditions, asserting that he is in fact “alive and well” and he has been living in Wonsan since mid-April. Other commentators are saying Kim Jong-un is just selfishly hiding to avoid contracting the coronavirus which is causing carnage in North Korea.
Time To Buy Bitcoin
Meanwhile, most cryptocurrencies are trading in the green territory. Bitcoin, for instance, is exchanging hands at $7,727.08 at press time after gaining 1.45% in the last 24 hours.
Amid mounting speculations regarding Kim Jong-un’s health, some crypto pundits like Galaxy Digital’s Mike Novogratz believe now’s as good a time as any to stock up on bitcoin.
No one knows how this Kim Jong-un death riddle will unfold in the coming days or weeks. Regardless, bulls are very optimistic about the halving that is expected in less than two weeks.
