<Anchor> This



is a friendly economic time.

I will be with reporter Han Ji-yeon.

Are you saying that hypermarkets are trying various things for single-person households?



<Reporter>



Yes, starting today (the 20th), you can buy agricultural products individually at large marts. I am a single person, so even if I buy 2 divided onions, one of them will rot.



In the meantime, large marts have released a lot of products for single-person households, but there are also medium-grown vegetables that retain their freshness for about two weeks by using the roots as they are to give them nutrients, as well as vegetables with small packaging or even improved varieties.



But there were still many times when I ended up buying more than I needed.



From today, you can buy onions, potatoes, carrots, sweet potatoes, and paprika individually at large marts across the country. Since there is no packaging, there is less waste, so it seems to have the effect of one stone and two sets of helping the environment.



<Anchor>



Hypermarkets are now under such regulations that they must rest on a holiday basis.

However, there are many consumers who think that this regulation needs to be relaxed a bit.



<Reporter>



Yes, the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry surveyed 1,000 consumers, and 7 out of 10 said that deregulation is necessary.



Sales regulations for hypermarkets have been in effect since 2012, and this is the 10th year this year. Because of this, large marts are currently closed twice a month on public holidays and from midnight to 10:00 am.



However, nearly half of the respondents said that it had no effect on revitalizing traditional markets, which was for regulatory purposes.



There are so many apps that you can shop these days.

There were many opinions that using these channels on compulsory holidays or waiting until the day the mart opens, only increases consumer inconvenience.



Only 16% of the respondents said that they shop at traditional markets on compulsory holidays.

One in two said that they had not used a traditional market in the past year.



In order to revive traditional markets, it seems more necessary to create and support traditional markets that consumers can visit, rather than just regulating hypermarkets.



<Anchor>



After the US raised the key interest rate by 0.75 percentage points last week, both the stock market and the virtual currency market are in a very bad situation right now, right?



<Reporter>



Yes, in particular, the situation with cryptocurrency is serious, and Bitcoin has fallen more than 30% in a week due to panic and panic selling.



The psychological barrier is 20,000 dollars, which is about 25.9 million won in Korean money. Yesterday, the price of Bitcoin went down to 22.87 million won.



That's a whopping 33% lower than a week ago.

It is also the first time in a year and a half that Bitcoin has been pushed this far.



I just checked before the broadcast, and although it has risen slightly to the 26 million won level, it is still near the psychological barrier, so the possibility of a sell-off in fear cannot be ruled out.



<Anchor>



No one knows, but how do experts see the future of Bitcoin?



<Reporter>



Yes, there is strength in the voice that it is not at the bottom yet.

There is also a forecast that it will go down to $10,000 by the end of this year, or 12.95 million won in Korean money.



Cryptocurrencies have been moving in a similar direction to stocks, especially the Nasdaq.



Given the current inflation situation and the pace of U.S. tightening, the price of Bitcoin is likely to fall, but one expert predicted that it would bottom out in the fourth quarter of this year, based on past crashes.



It's even worse at the end of the year.

In addition, cryptocurrency media predicted that Bitcoin would fall more rapidly when the second support level of $12,000 is broken.



Conversely, there is an optimistic view that the stock will rebound once the bottom is confirmed. Since the current decline is a recalibration process, I thought that the price would rise more than now in 2-3 years.



However, as a coin is a risky asset with a wide range of fluctuations, you should invest with caution.