Korean retail investors who chased M7… bought Iren and Bitfarms

October U.S. stock net-buying trend

Retail investors who sought big tech turn to crypto and AI stocks

'Virtual asset' Iren $300 million purchase

As Oracle and Broadcom share prices fell

"Buy-the-dip opportunity" concentrated buying as well

Until earlier this year, Korean retail investors who concentrated on big tech names such as the "Magnificent 7" (M7) have been turning their attention to virtual assets and artificial intelligence (AI)-related stocks. There is a mood of trying to maximize returns by loading up on stocks whose prices have been sluggish recently. As gold has been rallying at high levels, noticeably more Korean retail investors are putting money into gold exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

◇ $297,970,000 flowed into Iren

According to the Korea Securities Depository, domestic individual investors bought a total of $297,970,000 (about 422.5 billion won) worth of Iren (formerly Iris Energy) through the 17th of this month. It was the largest net-buying amount in this period. Iren is a bitcoin miner. Bitcoin mining uses an enormous amount of electricity, and Iren is known to reduce power costs by using renewable energy. Recently it announced plans to enter the AI cloud business based on its renewable energy infrastructure. Leveraging the two hottest themes in global markets — "virtual assets" and "AI infrastructure" — Iren's stock rose more than 40% over the past month.

Among the top 20 overseas stocks that Korean retail investors net-bought the most this month, five were related to virtual assets. Bitmain Immersion Technologies also saw net inflows of $180,600,000 (about 256.4 billion won) during the same period; Bitmain currently holds 3.03 million ETH, exceeding 2% of the total supply. Canadian bitcoin miner Bitfarms was 12th in net-buying with $81,230,000 (about 115.3 billion won). Like Iren, Bitfarms is pursuing business expansion into AI cloud.

Money also poured into leveraged crypto ETFs. The "T-Rex 2X Long Bitmain Daily Target," which seeks twice the daily price return of Bitmain, recorded net inflows of $285,730,000 (about 405.7 billion won) and ranked second. The "Volatility Shares 2X Ethereum" product, a 2x leveraged Ethereum product, also saw net inflows of $69,710,000 (about 98.9 billion won).

◇ Concentrated inflows into Oracle and Broadcom as well

AI investment demand remains steady. While major big tech names such as Nvidia and Meta appeared among the top net-buys, large amounts of funds from Korean retail investors also flowed into non-M7 companies like Oracle and Broadcom. With growing concerns about overvaluation of M7 firms, investors are seeking other AI beneficiaries.

Oracle, an AI cloud company, was net-bought by $120,630,000 (about 171.2 billion won). Its stock has fallen about 11% over the past month, so many investors appear to be buying at lower prices. Min-seong Ko, a researcher at NH Investment & Securities, advised, "We are currently entering the early phase of structural earnings growth, and because contributions from the cloud infrastructure (OCI) business are expected to expand from next year, this decline can be used as a buying opportunity."

Gold buying also strengthened. Two of the top 20 net-bought instruments were gold-investing ETFs. The representative gold ETF "SPDR Gold Shares" saw net inflows of $164,830,000 (about 234.0 billion won) this month, and "iShares Gold Trust" recorded net inflows of $67,210,000 (about 95.4 billion won) over the same period. By net-buying size they ranked 5th and 18th, respectively. Analysts interpret this as many Korean retail investors riding the "upward momentum" as gold prices rally at high levels.

With central banks around the world continuing to buy gold, the dominant view is that gold prices will trend upward for the time being. Jae-young Oh, a researcher at KB Securities, projected, "Even if the current gold rally is an overheated phase, expectations for additional Fed rate cuts in Oct–Dec, inflows into gold ETFs, and continued central bank buying will push gold prices higher without a major correction."

Yang Ji-yoon, reporter yang@hankyung.com