South Korean retail investors are pivoting away from Big Tech stocks in the United States into high-risk, high-reward crypto-linked equities. 

A Yonhap News Agency report citing data from the Korean Center for International Finance (KCIF) said the percentage of crypto-linked stocks in the top 50 net-bought stocks by South Korean investors rose from 8.5% in January to 36.5% in June before declining to 31.5% in July. 

The report added that net purchases of the top US Big Tech companies dropped to $260 million in July, down 84% from a monthly average of $1.68 billion between January and April. 

The KCIF attributed the shift to the rapid acceptance of stablecoins in the global financial markets, saying that the recently passed United States GENIUS Act had contributed to the change. 

BitMine gained $259 million from South Korean traders since July

The Ether-stacking company BitMine Immersion Technologies was the biggest beneficiary of the shift in South Korean investor appetite. 

On Monday, a Bloomberg report citing data from the Korea Securities Depository said that retail investors in South Korea had poured $259 million into BitMine stocks since the beginning of July. This made the company the most-purchased overseas security stock in the country in July. 

In the last 30 days, BitMine has increased its ETH holdings by 410.68% to 833,100 ETH. It now holds the world’s biggest Ether (ETH) stack. As ETH surged past $4,300 on Monday, the company’s holdings became worth nearly $3.6 billion, up 24% from their value on Tuesday. 

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Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin backs treasury firms, warns of overleverage

While Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin backed public companies buying ETH, he warned investors that the future of ETH must not come at the cost of excessive leverage. 

In a Bankless podcast, Buterin said the “downfall of ETH” could come if treasuries turned into “an overleveraged game.” Buterin outlined a worst-case chain reaction where an ETH price drop could turn into a cascade of liquidations. 

Despite this, he expressed confidence that ETH investors were disciplined enough to steer clear of such a case. 

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