Kimchi Premium Positive but Tether Basis Negative? How to Read It

On CoinGaja's coin pages, "Kimchi premium (FX basis)" and "Tether basis" are shown separately, and sometimes one is + while the other is −, which can be confusing. Once you can tell three numbers apart, they are easy to read.

1. The three numbers

• Kimchi premium (FX basis): the Korean coin price compared with the overseas price × the KRW/USD exchange rate
• Tether premium: how much higher the Upbit Tether (USDT) price is than the KRW/USD exchange rate
• Tether-based kimchi premium: the Korean coin price compared with the overseas price × the Upbit Tether price

2. Example (CoinGaja screen on the evening of October 24)

• KRW/USD exchange rate: ₩1,325.40
• Upbit Tether: ₩1,342
• Tether premium: 1,342 ÷ 1,325.40 → +1.25%

Tether being 1.25% more expensive than the exchange rate means that in Korea, the "dollar inside the coin market" is trading at a higher price than the dollar at the bank.

3. How to read it when the two differ

• Kimchi premium +, Tether basis −: it is not the coin that is expensive; Tether (the dollar) itself is expensive. The kimchi premium comes from the Tether premium, so the coin itself carries almost no markup of its own, or is actually cheap.
• Kimchi premium +, Tether basis + as well: even with the Tether premium taken out, the coin is more expensive in Korea. Korean demand has crowded into that coin itself.
• Tether premium −: the mood is that the Korean market as a whole is trading cheaper than abroad. It is an environment where a reverse premium (a negative kimchi premium) appears easily.

4. One-line summary

A high kimchi premium does not immediately mean "this coin is expensive". If you also look at the Tether-based kimchi premium, you can tell whether it is really because of that coin or because of the mood of the whole market.

When you check the kimchi premium, which do you look at more: the FX basis or the Tether basis?