Bloomberg "Korean retail investors undertake high-risk asset investments like altcoins to buy a home"

South Korea's individual investors are pouring large sums into high-risk investment products that can yield high returns in order to purchase homes.

On the 21st (local time), Bloomberg reported that domestic individual investors' margin loan balances have tripled in five years.

The problem is that Korean investors are using credit to invest in high-risk products. According to Bloomberg, more than 80% of trading volume on South Korean crypto exchanges is in altcoins, which is twice the global average. Also, for U.S.-listed leveraged exchange-traded funds (ETFs), Korean individual investors account for as much as 40% of assets under management.

Previously, Korean investors poured into crypto assets when U.S. President Donald Trump won last year's presidential election. At that time, crypto trading volume reached about 80% of KOSPI trading volume.

Bloomberg cited the South Korean government's real estate policy as the background for this phenomenon. It analyzed that, as buying a home became more difficult due to President Lee Jae-myung's recent limits on mortgage loan amounts and rental market reforms, individual investors' tendency to maximize returns through stocks or crypto assets has intensified.