South Korea’s retail investors once some of Tesla’s most loyal global backers are pulling back from the electric car maker and finding a new obsession: crypto-linked equities.
According to Bloomberg (Sept. 1), Korean retail traders sold off roughly $657 million worth of Tesla shares in August, the biggest monthly outflow since early 2019. Over the past four months, total sales have climbed to about $1.8 billion, signaling a sharp retreat.
Even so, Tesla hasn’t lost its crown just yet. Korean investors still hold an eye-popping $21.9 billion in the stock, far ahead of runner-ups like Nvidia and Palantir. But the gap is narrowing. Redemptions in leveraged Tesla ETFs, which double exposure to the stock, hit a record $554 million last month another sign that enthusiasm is cooling.
Capital Shifts to Crypto Proxies
As money moves out of Tesla, it’s finding a home in blockchain-related names. One standout is Bitmine Immersion Technologies, often treated as an Ethereum proxy due to its massive ETH holdings. The company saw $253 million of inflows in August alone, following $259 million in July, making it one of Koreans’ top foreign stock picks of the year.
The momentum isn’t limited to Bitmine. Circle and Coinbase also drew heavy inflows in August, helping push total purchases of crypto-related equities above $12 billion in 2025. Data from the Korean Center for International Finance shows that crypto-linked stocks now account for 31.4% of the top 50 net-bought foreign stocks, a big leap from just 8.5% at the start of the year.
Why the Shift? Look at Local Markets
The rotation reflects what’s happening at home. By late 2024, trading volumes in cryptocurrencies had overtaken local equity markets, with more than 10.8 million South Koreans now active in digital assets. Younger investors, especially those in their 20s, lead the charge, holding a much larger share of crypto compared to older generations.
Policy is playing catch-up. Regulators are weighing new rules for exchanges, debating whether crypto should be allowed in pensions, and even considering the launch of spot crypto ETFs. But for now, Korean retail investors are making their own call rotating capital from traditional U.S. tech names like Tesla into blockchain-linked firms.
The numbers point to something bigger than a passing trend: a structural reweighting of retail portfolios, positioning South Korea as one of the world’s most active retail markets for digital-asset exposure.
