During the recent Chuseok holiday, South Korean investors channeled an impressive $1.24 billion into U.S. tech and crypto-related assets, turning a traditional break into an active trading period from October 3 to 9.
A Holiday Trading Frenzy
With domestic markets closed for the Korean Thanksgiving, retail investors did not slow down. Instead, they aggressively pursued high-growth opportunities abroad, driven by a strong pre-holiday rally in Seoul and optimism about U.S. tech stocks. Their strategy had a clear focus: leveraged exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and stocks tied to the technology and digital asset sectors.
The most popular investment was the Direxion Daily Tesla Bull 2X ETF, a leveraged fund that amplifies Tesla’s stock movements, with net purchases totaling $151 million. Other major targets included:
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Iris Energy, an Australian Bitcoin mining firm, which saw inflows of $105 million.
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Meta Platforms, with investments of $100 million.
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Tesla shares themselves, which attracted $96 million.
Another notable purchase was around $95 million in the T-REX 2X Long BMNR Daily Target ETF, a leveraged fund tracking a Bitcoin mining company.
Context and Caution
This buying spree is part of a broader, more open approach from South Korean authorities toward digital finance. The government is working on a framework for a Korean won-pegged stablecoin and preparing to approve the country’s first spot crypto ETFs. Concurrently, there is a push for greater security, exemplified by the launch of new institutional-grade custody services that store digital assets in offline cold wallets.
However, the timing of the investment surge proved challenging. The aggressive buying occurred just before global markets dipped due to renewed US-China trade tensions, erasing some of the previous week’s gains. When South Korean markets reopened, the Kospi index fell 1.7%, suggesting the festive rally was short-lived. This serves as a reminder of the inherent risks in the high-stakes trading strategies favored by many Korean retail investors.
