Korean Individual Investors, Heavy Investment in ‘Ethereum Accumulating Company’ Bitmine

Korean investors who trade in overseas stocks, commonly referred to as ‘Korean Ants,’ have recently been focusing their funds on emerging U.S. companies involved in virtual assets (cryptocurrencies).

According to data from the Korea Securities Depository on the 2nd, the overseas stock with the largest net purchases by domestic investors in July was 'Bitmine,' with a net purchase value reaching $241 million (approximately ₩336.5 billion).

Bitmine is a virtual asset mining and investment company headquartered in Las Vegas, USA, and it was listed on the NYSE American (formerly AMEX) in early June. The company’s business model is particularly based on accumulating Ethereum (ETH) strategically. Expectations for benefits are rising amid ongoing discussions in the U.S. regarding stablecoin regulations.

The market is noting that about half of all stablecoins are distributed on Ethereum-based platforms. In fact, between June and July, the price of Ethereum surged about 46%, rising from $2,529 to $3,696.

Some observers say that the investment fervor for Bitmine is reminiscent of the interest shown in November last year towards Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy). At that time, Strategy drew attention for strategically accumulating Bitcoin, leading to a significant upward trend in its stock price and a sharp rise in domestic net purchases.

Meanwhile, as of last month, most of the top 10 net purchased stocks by Korean Ants, excluding ETFs, were digital asset-related companies. Robinhood ($105 million in net purchases), web marketing firm SharpLink Gaming (which holds Ethereum as an asset, $102 million), and crypto exchange Coinbase ($92 million) each ranked 8th to 10th.