South Korean retail traders spent their Chuseok vacation week betting large on American expertise shares and cryptocurrency-related belongings.
Between October Three and 9, 2025, whereas home markets sat closed for the normal harvest pageant, these traders moved $1.24 billion into abroad investments—principally concentrating on high-risk, leveraged merchandise.
The info from the Korea Securities Depository exhibits a transparent sample: South Korean traders aren’t focused on taking part in it secure. As a substitute of resting throughout their nation’s equal of Thanksgiving, they chased a few of the most risky funding choices accessible in world markets.
Leveraged Tesla Bets Lead the Pack
The most important winner was the Direxion Day by day Tesla Bull 2X ETF, which obtained $151 million in internet purchases. This product doubles the each day actions of Tesla inventory, which means larger beneficial properties when the value rises—but in addition steeper losses when it falls.
Shut behind got here $105 million invested in Iris Vitality, an Australian Bitcoin mining firm. Meta Platforms attracted $100 million, whereas Tesla inventory itself obtained $96 million in direct purchases. Rounding out the highest 5 was the T-REX 2X Lengthy BMNR Day by day Goal ETF at $95 million, one other leveraged product monitoring Bitcoin mining operations.
These decisions reveal one thing vital about Korean retail traders: they like amplified publicity over commonplace inventory purchases. 4 of the 5 high investments concerned both leverage or cryptocurrency mining—each identified for excessive worth swings.
The “Ant Military” Retains Pushing Ahead
South Korean retail traders have earned the nickname “ants” for his or her collective market energy. These particular person merchants have constructed a status for aggressive risk-taking, powered by the nation’s ultra-fast web and easy-to-use cellular buying and selling apps.
The Chuseok spending spree wasn’t an remoted occasion. By means of March 2025, Korean traders had already pumped $10.2 billion into US shares and ETFs—the very best quarterly influx on report going again to 2011.
However this strategy has burned them earlier than. Earlier in 2025, many Korean traders held over 90% of a triple-leveraged Tesla product that crashed more than 80% from its December peak. Tesla’s inventory itself solely dropped 41% throughout the identical interval, exhibiting how leverage magnifies losses.
Market Timing Creates Challenges
The vacation funding surge got here at a tough second. Simply earlier than Chuseok, Seoul’s inventory market had been hitting report highs. The Kospi Index reached contemporary peaks on optimism about US tech energy and home stimulus plans.
When markets reopened after the week-long break, the Kospi jumped to 3,610 points—breaking above 3,600 for the primary time ever. Overseas traders led this rally by shopping for over $700 million price of Korean shares on that single day.
Nonetheless, the abroad investments made throughout Chuseok confronted instant headwinds. World markets had stumbled throughout Korea’s vacation week as a consequence of rising US-China commerce tensions. The Kospi truly opened 1.7% decrease on the Monday after Chuseok ended, giving again a lot of its beneficial properties.
South Korea’s Complicated Crypto Relationship
The heavy funding in crypto-related belongings stands out towards South Korea’s current crypto market struggles. Between January and June 2025, the home crypto market misplaced roughly $24 billion in worth. Day by day buying and selling volumes on native exchanges crashed 80%—falling from 17.1 trillion received in December 2024 to simply 3.2 trillion received by June.
But crypto stays deeply fashionable in South Korea. Over 16 million South Koreans—almost one-third of the nation’s inhabitants—maintain cryptocurrency accounts. These accounts collectively include round $70 billion in digital belongings.
The nation additionally ranks because the world’s second-largest crypto market with $1 trillion in crypto purchases between July 2024 and June 2025. Solely america, at $4.2 trillion, surpasses South Korea.
Political winds have shifted in crypto’s favor too. President Lee Jae-myung, who took workplace in June 2025, helps legalizing crypto ETFs and permitting main establishments just like the Nationwide Pension Fund to put money into digital belongings.
Why This Sample Continues
A number of elements clarify why South Korean traders maintain making these aggressive bets regardless of previous losses:
Cultural elements play a task. South Korea’s aggressive tradition and emphasis on speedy wealth constructing drive many traders towards high-risk, high-reward methods. The nation’s tech-savvy inhabitants makes cellular buying and selling accessible to almost everybody.
Restricted home choices additionally matter. Whereas the Kospi lately hit report highs, it nonetheless trades at decrease valuations than many world friends. This pushes traders to look abroad for development alternatives.
FOMO dynamics are sturdy. When sure investments begin trending on Korean platforms, they will see explosive shopping for inside hours. This creates a suggestions loop the place early movers revenue, encouraging others to pile in.
The leverage side deserves consideration too. Customary inventory purchases really feel too gradual for a lot of Korean retail merchants. Leveraged merchandise promise to multiply beneficial properties—although they multiply losses simply as successfully.
The Backside Line
The $1.24 billion Chuseok funding wave exhibits that South Korean retail traders stay dedicated to their high-octane buying and selling type. Neither earlier losses from leveraged merchandise nor a shrinking home crypto market has dampened their urge for food for danger.
Whether or not this strategy pays off relies upon closely on timing and market situations. The traders who purchased throughout Chuseok confronted instant challenges as world markets weakened. However given South Korea’s monitor report as a number one indicator for crypto and tech developments, watching the place these “ants” make investments subsequent may supply clues about broader market actions forward.
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