Korean Investors Ditch Bitcoin for AI Chips as Stock Market Soars

For years, South Korea was the worldwide coronary heart of crypto hypothesis. It turned the place the place digital cash traded at a premium and the place retail buyers moved markets in a single day. The “Kimchi Premium” turned shorthand for a nationwide obsession: an unbridled and frenetic buying and selling exercise unmatched by any area on this planet.

However on the finish of 2025, the story is reversed. The identical merchants who as soon as searched Upbit for the subsequent altcoin gem are actually glued to the tickers of the Korean inventory trade, buying and selling meme tokens for reminiscence chips and high-bandwidth semiconductors. The crypto charts have gone silent – ​​and a brand new speculative engine has taken their place.

A market that has turn out to be silent

Upbit, as soon as the undisputed middle of Korean cryptomania, is now buying and selling at a fraction of its former tempo. Common day by day volumes have fallen practically 80% from a 12 months in the past, from roughly $9 billion on the finish of 2024 to simply $1.8 billion in November 2025. Bithumb, Korea’s second-largest trade, has suffered an analogous destiny, dropping greater than two-thirds of its liquidity over the identical interval, based on studies from Wu Blockchain.

What was as soon as a nightly nationwide pastime, the infinite stream of small-cap cash and chatroom rumors, has evaporated. Even volatility itself has collapsed. The place day by day volumes as soon as fluctuated wildly between $5 billion and $27 billion, the 2025 buying and selling ranges have flattened to a average vary of $2 to $4 billion.

Knowledge from analytics provider Dune reveals that the decline in exercise is much more pronounced in comparison with 2018, when on the top of the mania, Korean exchanges allowed 280,000 deposits per day; the day by day determine has not exceeded 50,000 since 2021.

The rise of a brand new obsession

The vacuum left by crypto didn’t final lengthy. Retail buyers merely migrated to a different desk: the Korean inventory market, which has seen some of the explosive rallies in its historical past.

The KOSPI index is up greater than 70% this 12 months, reaching numerous document highs. In October alone, the index posted its strongest month-to-month achieve since 2001, rising 21% and setting 17 new intraday information. The frenzy has been led by AI-linked giants similar to Samsung Electronics and SK hynix, whose mixed day by day turnover now accounts for greater than 1 / 4 of the overall inventory market.

In a rustic that after traded crypto as a sort of collective passion, the psychology feels acquainted. The identical spirit of retail hypothesis has resurfaced, solely this time with semiconductor shares. Knowledge reported by the Korean times confirmed that the variety of energetic buying and selling accounts within the nation has risen from 86.57 million on the flip of the 12 months to 95.33 million as of October 31.

The retail euphoria is spilling over into equities

In contrast to the meme-driven altcoin rallies of previous, Korea’s inventory growth has a extra tangible spine. AI is the worldwide progress story of the last decade, and Korea occurs to regulate one among its most important provide chains.

Whereas Nvidia and AMD gasoline a lot of the worldwide demand for AI {hardware}, Korean corporations like SK Hynix and Samsung have turn out to be indispensable. Their dominance in high-bandwidth reminiscence (HBM), a key part for AI coaching, has made them nationwide champions.

Add to {that a} authorities desperate to revive home markets, and also you get what some analysts are calling a “policy-backed bull run.” President Yoon Suk Yeol’s authorities has carried out reforms to scale back the long-standing ‘Korea Low cost’, encouraging greater dividends, tighter governance and incentives for personal and institutional funding at dwelling.

Identical thoughts, totally different on line casino

Hypothesis within the Korean crypto group has by no means been about restraint; it was about rhythm and pace. That hasn’t modified. Margin loans are booming once more, leveraged ETFs are flying off the cabinets and personal participation has doubled in only a 12 months. Based on Bloomberg dataLeveraged retail positions now make up virtually 30% of complete holdings, with youthful merchants main the cost.

In different phrases, the migration from crypto to equities just isn’t a retreat, however a redistribution of danger urge for food. The Koreans haven’t given up hypothesis; they’ve simply discovered a location the place the affect feels legit and the upside feels patriotic.

However this shift has penalties. With out Korean retail as a liquidity anchor, international crypto markets have misplaced one among their most constant patrons. Memecoin meetups that after lit up Korean chat rooms are actually scorching sooner. And the broader market basically wants a spark; bitcoin is presently buying and selling round $100,000 regardless of hitting an all-time excessive a month in the past, whereas a number of altcoins have misplaced greater than 20% up to now month.

Ready for the subsequent spark

Crypto’s “Kimchi Merchants” might have stepped away, however historical past suggests they will not be gone ceaselessly. When AI buying and selling cools down, who would be the analysts? suggesting it may be near the horizonn, or when the subsequent massive crypto story comes alongside, the identical merchants may come roaring again, armed with new capital and sharper reflexes.

For now, Korean retailers have traded blockchains for printed circuit boards, chasing the identical rush in one other enviornment.