South Korean Investors Abandon Tesla for Crypto Stocks
Korean retail investors are turning away from Tesla and embracing crypto-linked equities. In August alone,$657 million worth of Tesla shares were sold by local traders,marking a notable shift.
This pullback from Tesla started earlier. Over the past four months, Korean investors have offloaded $1.8 billion in Tesla shares. tesla is still the leading foreign stock among these investors, though, with holdings totaling $21.9 billion. Competitors like Nvidia and Palantir trail far behind.
the leveraged Tesla ETF, known for offering double exposure, saw record redemptions of $554 million in August. Simultaneously occurring, Bitmine immersion Technologies emerged as a popular choice. With $253 million in net inflows in August and another $259 million in July, Bitmine has become a favorite among Korean investors for its ties to Ethereum.
- Circle and Coinbase also attracted significant Korean investments in August.
- In 2025, total crypto stock purchases reached over $12 billion.
Crypto-related stocks now constitute 31.4% of the top 50 foreign stocks bought by Korean retail investors. By the end of 2024, cryptocurrency trading volumes had already overtaken local equities in South Korea. Currently, 10.8 million Koreans engage in crypto trading.
The youthful demographic leads this trend; investors in their 20s actively participate in crypto trading. Policies surround spot crypto ETFs and new exchange regulations,while discussions about integrating digital assets into pensions persist.
South Korea appears to be a vibrant retail market for digital asset exposure, with a clear pivot from U.S. tech equities to crypto-proxy investments.
