Bitcoin hovered near $8,500 after the Upbit raid rattled crypto markets

Bitcoin remained near $8,500 on May 12, 2018, after a sharp cryptocurrency selloff coincided with news that South Korean prosecutors had searched Upbit, the country’s largest digital-asset exchange.

Kraken’s daily market report displayed bitcoin at $8,473, down 1.54% for the exchange’s reporting window, with $107 million in bitcoin turnover. Ether was shown at $680.10, down 0.91%, on $76.7 million of venue turnover. Kraken reported $270 million traded across all of its crypto, euro, U.S.-dollar, yen, Canadian-dollar and sterling markets.

Those figures describe activity on Kraken, not a consolidated global closing price. They nevertheless provide a primary exchange record showing that the market remained under pressure after the much larger May 11 decline.

The weekly damage remained substantial

CoinMarketCap’s archived May 12 snapshot displayed bitcoin at $8,504.89, up 0.42% over its trailing 24-hour window but down 13.69% over seven days. Ether was listed at $686.05, up 0.38% over 24 hours and down 16.02% over seven days. XRP’s seven-day decline was 23.35%, while EOS was down 19.43% over seven days and 5.46% over 24 hours.

The apparent difference between CoinMarketCap’s positive 24-hour bitcoin change and Kraken’s 1.54% decline is not a contradiction. CoinMarketCap aggregated market information using its own snapshot methodology, while Kraken measured trading on one venue over its reporting window. The surviving pages do not establish synchronized observation times, so their prices and percentages should not be treated as interchangeable closes.

Kraken’s May 11 report showed how the selloff had developed. It displayed bitcoin at $8,605, down 5.19%; ether at $686.30, down 6.60%; XRP at $0.6928, down 9.92%; and EOS at $14.97, down 14.9%. Total Kraken turnover was $361 million on May 11. The May 12 total was therefore $91 million lower, a 25.2% decline calculated from the two rounded venue totals. That calculation indicates reduced activity on Kraken, not a global volume contraction.

A raid tested confidence in centralized exchanges

The market move followed searches conducted at Upbit on May 10 and May 11. The Seoul Southern District Prosecutors’ Office seized computer drives and accounting records while investigating allegations that the exchange had represented cryptocurrencies as available when it did not possess them. These were allegations under investigation, not findings of guilt as of May 12.

Upbit said it would cooperate with prosecutors. The company also said its trading, deposit and withdrawal services remained operational and that customer assets were securely held. Those statements established Upbit’s contemporaneous position, but no independent reserve audit available on May 12 verified the company’s custody claim.

The investigation mattered beyond one operator. Centralized exchanges were essential gateways for cryptocurrency liquidity, yet customers generally depended on internal account records rather than direct control of blockchain addresses. A search involving a major exchange therefore raised questions about custody, accounting and whether displayed customer balances corresponded to assets controlled by the venue.

Attribution remained uncertain

Contemporaneous coverage associated the selloff with the Upbit news, and the timing made that interpretation plausible. It did not prove that the investigation caused every sale. Reports also circulated speculation about movements from wallets associated with the failed Mt. Gox exchange, while leverage, technical positioning and the broader retreat from early-May prices could have contributed.

Public price summaries reveal direction, magnitude and turnover, but not the motives of individual traders. The defensible May 12 record is narrower: bitcoin remained near $8,500, major assets carried substantial seven-day losses, Kraken recorded continued weakness after the May 11 drop, and uncertainty surrounding Upbit added a significant exchange-risk concern. Later charging decisions or court outcomes are not used to rewrite what was knowable on May 12, 2018.