An 80% collapse would usually mark the tip of a speculative commerce. In South Korea’s retail-driven crypto ecosystem, it has accomplished the alternative.
BitMine Immersion Applied sciences, the Tom Lee–backed US-listed agency that reinvented itself as an Ether hoarding car, now ranks second solely to Alphabet among the many most bought abroad shares by South Korean buyers in 2025.
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Korean Retail Retains Shopping for Tom Lee’s BitMine Even because the Inventory Implodes
That place has held at the same time as BitMine’s shares plunged roughly 82% from their July peak, wiping out many of the positive factors from its explosive rally earlier this 12 months.
BitMine (BTMNR) Inventory Efficiency YTD. Supply: Google Finance
In response to on-chain analyst AB Kuai Dong, regardless of BitMine and USDC issuer Circle each collapsing greater than 70% from their highs, they nonetheless landed within the prime 10 abroad securities purchased by Koreans this 12 months. BitMine sat simply behind Google’s father or mother firm, Alphabet Inc.
“Korean bros are putting on a show of buying more the more they lose,” he wrote.
On the heart of the commerce is BitMine’s radical pivot. As soon as a marginal Bitcoin miner, the corporate rebranded itself as an Ether treasury, explicitly mirroring the playbook popularized by Michael Saylor’s Technique, solely with ETH as an alternative of BTC.
BitMine now has 3% of the ETH provide
Two-thirds on the way in which to the ‘Alchemy of 5%’
👏👏👏👏 https://t.co/7gvPmCC7Ql
— Thomas (Tom) Lee (not drummer) FSInsight.com (@fundstrat) November 24, 2025
The shift briefly turned BitMine right into a market phenomenon, sending its shares up greater than 3,000% to a July peak. The surge got here as retail merchants rushed to achieve fairness publicity to Ethereum accumulation.
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The hangover was swift. BitMine’s inventory collapsed, volatility spiked, and leveraged merchandise tied to the shares cratered. But Korean merchants saved shopping for.
In response to information from the Korea Securities Depository, cited by Bloomberg, South Korean retail buyers invested a internet $1.4 billion in BitMine shares in 2025. They even funneled $566 million right into a 2x leveraged ETF linked to the inventory as losses mounted.
Religion Capital, Hoarding Logic, and Korea’s Willingness to Purchase the Ache
To exterior observers, the conduct seems to be irrational. Inside crypto-native circles, it follows a well-recognized logic. Korean group members ascribe it to the “hoarding logic,” arguing that faith-driven capital flows don’t monitor value curves.
“Faith capital flow ≠ price curve, this wave in Korea is just like the on-chain hoarding logic,” they stated.
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The concept is that infrastructure issues greater than drawdowns. If Ether is a long-term settlement layer, then an ETH-heavy treasury car turns into extra engaging as costs fall, not much less. Social sentiment mirrors this angle.
“When it comes to loyalty in the crypto circle, Koreans are number one globally,” one other person wrote, echoing a long-standing view of South Korea as a market the place retail conviction typically overwhelms threat administration.
Circle Turns into the Parallel Guess as Korean Retail Chases Crypto Infrastructure Over Value
BitMine shouldn’t be the one beneficiary of this mindset. Circle Web Monetary, the issuer of USDC, has additionally attracted heavy Korean inflows.
Korean buyers poured near $1 billion into Circle shares, making it one of the widespread abroad crypto-linked shares regardless of sharp post-IPO volatility.
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This demand possible stems from optimism round stablecoin regulation, each within the US and below South Korea’s new administration, which is pushing to broaden home crypto market entry and permit native stablecoin issuance.
BeInCrypto reported in October that Circle registered $2.4 trillion in Asia-Pacific stablecoin exercise within the June 2024-2025 monetary 12 months.
Asia has the best adoption charge of stablecoins worldwide.
At Circle Discussion board Singapore, we explored how APAC is embracing onchain finance, with $2.4 trillion of exercise from June 2024 to June 2025.
Yam Ki Chan, VP for APAC and Managing Director for Circle Singapore, expands on… pic.twitter.com/Llj6zMEM1N
— Circle (@circle) October 2, 2025
In Japan, the FSA (Monetary Companies Company) authorized JPYC as the primary yen-denominated stablecoin for launch later this 12 months. Circle invested in JPYC by Sequence A funding, elevating roughly 500 million yen whole.
Collectively, BitMine and Circle level to a broader thesis at work. Korean retail buyers aren’t simply buying and selling tokens; they’re front-running crypto infrastructure by equities, even when value motion turns brutal.
Greater than $10 billion in abroad fairness inflows from South Korea have occurred in 2025. A lot of it focused high-risk themes, together with crypto, AI, and semiconductors.
Is that this foresight or normalization of ache? With establishments more and more bullish on Bitcoin and digital belongings heading into 2026, Korean retail could also be positioning early for the subsequent cycle. Alternatively, 2026 could redefine drawdowns as an appropriate value of perception.
