Korea Dumps Crypto for Stocks? KOSPI Hits Record as Crypto Volume Collapses 80%
South Korea’s KOSPI index soared to report peaks in early November, whereas crypto buying and selling quantity dropped over 80%.
This sharp divergence has disenchanted crypto buyers as capital flows decisively towards conventional equities.
Record Equity Rally and Unprecedented Crypto Decline
The Korean Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), South Korea’s main inventory market index, reached its all-time high as crypto trade volumes fell to their lowest since late 2023. KOSPI represents the efficiency of all frequent shares traded on the Korea Exchange (KRX).
According to a local media report on November 4, KOSPI’s each day buying and selling quantity surged to KRW 34.04 trillion, marking a 208% improve from KRW 11.05 trillion on January 2, 2025, the primary buying and selling day of the 12 months.
During the identical interval, Korea’s 5 main crypto exchanges noticed their each day buying and selling quantity lower to KRW 5.57 trillion. These 5 are KRW-based exchanges, such as Upbit, Bithumb, Coinone, Korbit, and Gopax. This represents a forty five% plunge from January, when buying and selling volumes comfortably exceeded KRW 10 trillion.
CryptoQuant’s knowledge exhibits that buying and selling on the 5 exchanges collapsed to near-zero ranges. This compares to early-2025 highs above 240 billion items.
The KOSPI jumped 71.8% year-to-date, making it the world’s top-performing main inventory index. This surge has been pushed by continued momentum in home shares, significantly Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, powered by the brand new administration and investor enthusiasm for artificial intelligence.
Upbit, South Korea’s greatest crypto trade, noticed its 24-hour buying and selling volume drop 12.8% to $2.02 billion as of October 31, 2025. The sharp decline indicators a waning urge for food amongst buyers for digital asset hypothesis.
“Where did all of the Korean retail buyers within the crypto circle go? Answer: To the inventory market subsequent door,” analyst AB Kuai Dong observed.
President Lee Jae-myung’s Market-Friendly Policies Drive Rally
South Korea’s inventory market started its ascent in May this 12 months throughout the Presidential election marketing campaign. The election was held after the lifting of martial regulation, so the opposition chief Lee Jae-Myung’s victory was extensively anticipated.
Lee is a lawyer however used to put money into the inventory market. He has lengthy proven curiosity in inventory market stimulus. His market-friendly rhetoric throughout the marketing campaign helped gas investor optimism, which has now translated into the KOSPI’s record-breaking efficiency.
AI semiconductor suppliers Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix have led the surge. Samsung shares rose roughly 95% year-to-date, whereas SK Hynix gained a powerful 242%, each considerably outperforming the broader market.
Last week, the APEC summit was held in Gyeongju, Korea, and world leaders, together with Donald Trump and Xi Jinping, attended it. NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang additionally visited Korea for the CEO Summit. He made headlines by having fun with beer and hen with the Samsung and Hyundai chairpersons.
Huang additionally met with President Lee and introduced plans to prioritize supplying more than 260,000 AI Chips to Korea’s authorities and a few of the nation’s greatest companies, together with Samsung, SK Hynix, and Hyundai. Following these “Jensen Moments”, the Korean inventory market hit report highs for two consecutive days.
Crypto Market Feels Sidelined Amid Stock Boom
Korea is legendary for its high crypto buying and selling volumes, and listings on Upbit and Bithumb are nonetheless thought of major catalysts for worth will increase within the international crypto market. However, as funds rush into the surging inventory market, Korea’s home crypto market feels considerably marginalized.
The current weak spot in crypto markets shouldn’t be unrelated to this development. In phrases of returns, the fact is that the inventory market is much outpacing Bitcoin, which rose 11% YTD.
Crypto market individuals have expressed frustration. CryptoQuant CEO Ki Young Ju concurred with an analyst who advised the president enhance equities to divert hypothesis from actual property.
Future Outlook for Both Markets
South Korean political speculators say President Lee has proven appreciable curiosity within the crypto market. During the final presidential election, he campaigned on insurance policies together with Bitcoin spot ETF approval and stablecoin adoption, and even defined stablecoins throughout TV debates.
A ruling celebration politician just lately advised a BeInCrypto reporter, “In the longer term, President Lee might be remembered as somebody who lifted each the inventory and crypto markets—a mannequin much like at present’s Trump.”
For now, South Korea’s markets present a uncommon break up between conventional and digital belongings. Whether this marks a brief section or a extra profound shift in investor conduct stays to be seen as political and financial dynamics proceed to evolve. On Tuesday, the market underwent a -2.7% correction, but crypto market additionally went by means of a downturn.
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