South Korean lawmakers seek expanded FIU powers over unregistered crypto firms
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South Korean lawmakers warn that the KOSPI index has "become a casino" and call for the delisting of leveraged ETFs.
Odaily Odaily reports that South Korean lawmakers are increasingly concerned about the risks of single-stock leveraged ETFs, with one opposition lawmaker calling for the delisting of such products. On Monday, Ahn Cheol-soo, a conservative People Power Party lawmaker and former presidential candidate, posted on social media calling for strong corrective measures, including delisting, for South Korean leveraged ETFs tracking Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix. He wrote that the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) "has become a casino," and that such products are "a complete policy failure, eroding trillions of won in corporate value and national wealth every day." His comments have heightened concerns among policymakers and investors about the risks of these ETFs. These products aim to achieve double the return on their underlying stocks, and their mechanized rebalancing process forces them to buy more when prices rise and sell more when prices fall, potentially amplifying market volatility. (Jinshi)
South Korean company Bithumb has introduced a brokerage firm as a shareholder, with Kiwoom Securities seeking to acquire shares through a private placement.
According to Mars Finance, on June 29th, South Korean Kiwoom Securities is in talks with Bithumb regarding a third-party private placement, intending to acquire a stake through the subscription of new shares. The specific shareholding ratio and investment scale are still under negotiation. Following Samsung, Mirae Asset, and Korea Investment & Securities, another major brokerage firm has joined the race for a stake in a crypto exchage. This investment comes against the backdrop of South Korean financial regulators pushing forward the second phase of reforms to the Virtual Asset Act, which proposes to set the upper limit on the shareholding ratio of major shareholders in exchanges at 20% in principle, with exceptions allowing for 34%. Bithumb's current largest shareholder, Bithumb Holdings, holds 73.56% of the shares. If the relevant regulations are implemented, Bithumb will face significant pressure to reduce its holdings. Bithumb is currently pursuing a KOSDAQ listing plan, with Samsung Securities as the lead underwriter, and is attempting to increase its valuation by splitting its core trading business into new business segments. Whether Kiwoom Securities' private placement constitutes pre-IPO strategic financing, and the arrangements for its alignment with the listing timeline, are expected to be core issues in the transaction structure. Bithumb stated that it is currently exploring various possibilities for cooperation with financial institutions and companies, and no specific plan has been finalized yet.
South Korean stocks plunge 20%, nearing a bear market; the AI boom faces the awkward situation of "the more disastrous the earnings, the steeper the decline."
According to BlockBeats, on Wednesday afternoon, July 8th, South Korean stocks extended their losses as investors reassessed the outlook for AI demand. The KOSPI index fell by more than 6% at one point, breaking below 7200 points, and has cumulatively fallen by more than 20% from its all-time high last month, poised to enter technical bear market territory. Memory chip maker SK Hynix fell by as much as 5%, and Samsung Electronics fell by 6.9%. The Korea Exchange initiated a temporary trading halt on the KOSPI index, suspending algorithmic trading. South Korean stocks were among the strongest performing markets globally this year, but their performance is highly dependent on SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics, amplifying volatility when sector sentiment weakens. Even with Samsung Electronics announcing a 19-fold surge in quarterly profits earlier this week, chip stocks continued to be under pressure. Jordan Klein, a TMT sector expert at Mizuho Securities, stated that investors overreacted to Samsung's preliminary second-quarter results. He believes this sell-off in semiconductor stocks is more a sign of waning momentum than a deterioration in fundamentals. Klein stated that excluding one-off bonus expenses, Samsung's operating profit actually significantly exceeded expectations, with its storage business implied operating margin potentially exceeding 80%. He indicated that Samsung's single-quarter operating profit has already surpassed the total of the past three years, and reacting to Samsung's stock price based solely on preliminary results is "extremely short-sighted." Meanwhile, an AI trading rotation occurred in Asian markets. Hong Kong-listed Chinese stocks rose, with the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index rising as much as 3.4%, the Hang Seng Tech Index rising over 5% intraday, Alibaba rising over 8%, and Tencent rising over 3%. Market analysts believe that funds are flowing from crowded trades focused on AI infrastructure to markets with lower valuations and more value-oriented characteristics. Reuters' report on DeepSeek's self-developed chip and The Information's report on Zhipu AI considering designing its own AI chip further fueled this rotation. (Jinshi)
Circuit breakers have become commonplace in the South Korean stock market, with high volatility attracting retail investors, turning trading in South Korean stocks into a "squid game."
According to Mars Finance, on July 7th, the Wall Street Journal published an article analyzing the recent high volatility of the South Korean stock market. The article cited data showing that in the past year, the South Korean KOSPI index fluctuated by more than 2% on 77 separate days. During the same period, the S&P 500 index in the US experienced only five such instances. The KOSPI fluctuated by more than 3% on 44 days, while the S&P 500 never exceeded 3%, and the KOSPI fluctuated by more than 5% on 23 days. The report stated that this volatility has become one of the factors attracting many South Korean retail investors who trade purely for the sake of trading. Maxence Visseau, founder of macro and quantitative hedge fund Arkevium Capital, commented, "Volatility is the key attraction for retail investors seeking excitement." The report also noted that foreign capital outflows exceeded $100 billion (approximately 154 trillion won) in the first half of this year, with $30 billion flowing out in June alone. This trend "could ultimately harm local investors."
South Korean beauty and retail stocks led the market gains, and Gate.com continues to expand its investment portfolio in South Korean stocks.
According to ChainCatcher, Gate's market data shows that the South Korean stock market was active today. Manyo Factory, a cosmetics stock, reached $11.60, up 18.43%; Heung Koo Petroleum reached $6.88, up 14.72%; and IT'S HANBUL reached $7.25, up 13.51%, with several popular South Korean stocks leading the market gains. Gate has established a 24/7 trading service system covering the three core markets of US, Hong Kong, and South Korea, supporting over 10,000 US stocks and ETFs, over 1,500 Hong Kong stocks, and over 1,000 South Korean stocks, totaling over 12,500 stocks and ETFs globally. Users can participate in global stock investment through their Gate unified account using USDT, supporting fractional share transactions starting from as low as 0.01 shares, and enjoying stock dividend rights. The platform also supports cross-brokerage transfers for US and Hong Kong stocks, as well as corporate actions such as stock splits and consolidations, further optimizing the stock investment service experience.
Rebellions, a South Korean AI chip startup backed by Samsung Electronics, plans to IPO in South Korea next year.
According to reports, Sunghyun Park, CEO of Rebellions, a South Korean AI chip startup backed by Samsung Electronics, stated that the company plans to IPO in South Korea in the first or second quarter of next year. Park said that Rebellions has already begun generating actual revenue, "and for this reason, we are working with the underwriting teams at JPMorgan Chase and Samsung Securities to prepare for the IPO." (Jiemian)