**South Korean Retail Investors Keep Buying BitMine Stock Despite 80% Crash**

In most markets, when a stock drops more than 80%, it usually signals the end of the road for investors. But in South Korea, where retail investors play a huge role in the crypto space, the opposite is happening.

BitMine Immersion Technologies, a U.S.-listed company backed by well-known crypto bull Tom Lee, has become one of the hottest overseas stocks for South Korean investors in 2025. It’s now the second most bought foreign stock by Korean retail traders—right after Alphabet, Google’s parent company.

What’s surprising is that BitMine’s stock has fallen around 82% since its peak in July. Yet, Korean investors continue to pour money into it. At one point earlier this year, BitMine’s share price skyrocketed by more than 3,000%. The reason? The company shifted its business model from Bitcoin mining to becoming a treasury that holds large amounts of Ethereum (ETH), similar to how MicroStrategy stacks Bitcoin.

Even as the stock crashed and became extremely volatile, Korean retail investors didn’t back off. In fact, they doubled down. According to data from the Korea Securities Depository, they invested a net total of $1.4 billion in BitMine shares in 2025 alone. They also funneled $566 million into a leveraged ETF that tracks BitMine, despite its poor performance.

**Why Are Korean Investors Still Buying?**

To many outsiders, this kind of behavior seems irrational. But within crypto circles in Korea, it makes sense. It’s based on a belief system known as “hoarding logic.” The idea is simple: if you believe Ethereum is the future of finance and settlement, then holding a company heavily invested in ETH makes sense—especially when prices are low.

For these investors, short-term losses don’t matter as much as long-term potential. They see BitMine as more than just a stock; it’s part of the crypto infrastructure they believe in.

**Circle Stock Also Gains Popularity Despite Volatility**

BitMine isn’t the only crypto-linked company getting attention from South Korean retail investors. Circle Internet Financial, the issuer of the USDC stablecoin, has also attracted nearly $1 billion in investments from Korea—even though its stock has seen major ups and downs since going public.

This trend is driven by growing optimism around stablecoin regulation. Both the U.S. and South Korea are making moves to support and regulate digital assets more clearly. South Korea’s new administration is also pushing to expand access to crypto markets and allow local issuance of stablecoins.

Circle has also been active in Asia. The company reported $2.4 trillion in stablecoin activity in the Asia-Pacific region during the 2024–2025 financial year. In Japan, Circle invested in JPYC, which recently became the first yen-backed stablecoin approved by Japan’s Financial Services Agency (FSA).

**Bigger Picture: Betting on Crypto Infrastructure Over Price**

The continued investment in companies like BitMine and Circle shows a bigger trend among South Korean retail investors. They’re not just buying crypto tokens—they’re investing in the infrastructure behind crypto. Even when prices fall hard, they see opportunities to buy into the future of blockchain and digital finance.

In total, more than $10 billion in foreign equity investments have flowed out of South Korea in 2025. A large portion of that money went into high-risk sectors like cryptocurrency, artificial intelligence (AI), and semiconductors.

So, what does this mean? Are South Korean investors ahead of the curve? Or are they simply getting used to the pain of extreme volatility? With major financial institutions becoming increasingly bullish on Bitcoin and digital assets going into 2026, these early bets might pay off—or redefine what it means to stay committed through losses.