South Korean investors swap US Big Tech stocks for crypto-linked equities

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 that the amount 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 rapidly growing acceptance of stablecoins into the global financial markets, saying that the recently passed United States GENIUS Act contributed to the change

BitMine gained $259 million from South Korean traders since July

The Ether-stacking company BitMine Immersion Technologies is 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 poured $259 million into BitMine stocks since the beginning of July. This makes 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. With this, BitMine holds the world’s largest 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 last Tuesday

Related: NYSE-parent ICE taps Chainlink to bring forex, precious metals data onchain

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 stressed that the “downfall of ETH” being from treasuries would be if it somehow 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 are disciplined enough to steer clear of such a case

Magazine: How Ethereum treasury companies could spark ‘DeFi Summer 2.0’

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