Thought it would be a windfall…"30% evaporated in a month" Korean overseas investors 'scream'

Korea Economic Daily

Summary

It reported that major cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum have plunged significantly over the past month due to the U.S. central bank's hawkish stance.
It said that U.S. companies that directly invested in cryptocurrencies and overseas stock investors who bought those companies' shares have also suffered losses of over 30%.
In particular, it reported that investors who invested in Bitcoin leveraged ETFs experienced a 36.77% decline since July.

Cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, are plunging due to the U.S. central bank (fed)'s hawkish stance. Investors who directly bought Bitcoin and Ethereum, as well as overseas stock investors who heavily accumulated shares of related foreign companies, are also believed to have suffered large losses.

According to Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, Bitcoin was trading at $95,249 at around 2:30 p.m., down 0.5% from the previous day. It also fell to $92,985 at around 7:10 a.m. Bitcoin's price has fallen 10.85% over the past month.

The decline in altcoins, which are more volatile than Bitcoin, is steeper. Ethereum is trading at $3,097.09, down 19.19% over the past month, and Solana is trading at $140.23, down 23.84%. After continued declines, Ethereum has given back all of its gains this year and is 0.44% lower year-to-date.

Stocks of U.S. companies that directly purchase cryptocurrencies are also weak. Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy), owned by Michael Saylor, which holds the most Bitcoin among companies worldwide, is trading at $199.75, plunging 31.09% in a month. The year-to-date loss amounts to 33.42%. Bitmain Immersion Technology, which accumulates Ethereum, also saw its corporate value decline 30.99% over the past month.

Overseas stock investors who concentrated purchases of cryptocurrency investment companies in the second half of this year are also estimated to have incurred losses. According to the Korea Securities Depository, domestic investors net-bought $2,147,690,000 worth of Bitmain Immersion Technology shares after the stock peaked on July 3. During this period Bitmain's stock plunged 74.52%.

Overseas stock investors are also expected to be suffering losses in bitcoin leveraged ETFs. Since July, they bought $544,860,000 worth of the '2X Bitcoin Strategy' exchange-traded fund (ETF), which tracks bitcoin price movements twice via bitcoin futures contracts. This ETF's price plunged 36.77% since July.

Reporter Jeon Beom-jin forward@hankyung.com

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