Korea Dumps Crypto for Stocks? KOSPI Hits Record as Crypto Volume Collapses 80%

South Korea's KOSPI stock index soared to an all-time high in early November, coinciding with a drastic collapse in domestic cryptocurrency trading volume, which fell by over 80% from earlier in the year across the five major exchanges (Upbit, Bithumb, Coinone, Korbit, and Gopax). The KOSPI's year-to-date jump of 71.8% makes it the world's top-performing major index, driven by enthusiasm for AI-related stocks like Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, following the election of President Lee Jae-myung, whose market-friendly rhetoric fueled investor optimism. This rally was further boosted by NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang's commitment to supply over 260,000 AI chips to major Korean firms. Conversely, crypto market participants expressed frustration as Bitcoin's 11% year-to-date return lagged far behind the stock market's performance, suggesting a significant diversion of retail capital from digital assets to traditional equities.

(Source：BeInCrypto)