At Jensen Huang’s latest look in Seoul, attendees waved smartphones exhibiting inventory tickers for Nvidia and Samsung quite than crypto charts.
In the meantime, buying and selling volumes on Upbit, South Korea’s largest crypto change, have declined by 12.8% not too long ago, indicating a notable shift in retail investor sentiment.
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Korean Retail Market Rotates From Crypto to AI-Linked Equities
South Korea is witnessing a visual exodus from digital belongings. Information from CoinGecko exhibits Upbit recorded $2.02 billion in 24-hour buying and selling quantity as of October 31, 2025. It’s down by over 13% within the final 24 hours.
Buying and selling volumes have been declining over the past a number of months, reflecting a pointy drop regardless of the change boasting 293 listed cash, 636 buying and selling pairs, and a Belief Rating of 8/10.
Upbit Buying and selling Volumes. Supply: CoinGecko
The scene grew to become emblematic when Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang appeared with Samsung Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong. Attendees displayed inventory charts, not crypto charts, reflecting new market pursuits.
Whereas Lee appeared detached, Huang pointed on the crowd, highlighting the second. This went viral, seen as an emblem of Korea’s shift from speculative belongings towards tech-driven progress.
“Where did all the Korean retail investors in the crypto circle go? Answer: To the stock market next door,” analyst AB Kuai Dong noticed.
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Some argue that the capital rotation is a big change, not simply apathy. Retail merchants now align with Korea’s nationwide AI technique, searching for extra steady returns than risky digital currencies supply.
Capital seems to be shifting from hypothesis to focusing on elementary progress alternatives as an alternative. Korean buyers at the moment are specializing in government-driven AI industrial upgrades.
The federal government and prime companies are coordinating to allocate 260,000 GPU models, fueling an AI buildout that will surpass the scope of crypto.
Lately, Samsung and Nvidia introduced plans for a next-generation AI megafactory partnership. The venture will make the most of 50,000 Nvidia GPUs to automate manufacturing. Samsung’s AI Manufacturing facility goals to unify design, course of, gear, operations, and high quality inside one clever community.
The announcement coincided with Nvidia’s reported $5 trillion in market worth, reinforcing its dominance in AI infrastructure.
For comparability, the whole cryptocurrency market cap is about $3.8 trillion as of October 31, 2025. This distinction displays the place international tech momentum is heading.
The “Jensen moment” in Seoul might signify a handoff, from crypto to tech equities, as retail buyers search reliability.
Globally, synthetic intelligence has overtaken cryptocurrency as the primary avenue for progress. Korean buyers appear wanting to take part in nationwide AI initiatives alongside main companies, quite than stay uncovered to speculative markets with out institutional backing.
