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Odaily News – After South Korea raised capital thresholds and added trading restrictions, the leveraged trading capital previously concentrated in Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix has contracted notably. However, some market participants worry that the restricted leveraged capital may shift toward index-based or overseas leveraged ETFs, and the effectiveness of the regulatory measures still requires further observation.Looking at specific targets, eight products linked to SK Hynix saw net selling of approximately 1.2415 trillion KRW, while eight products tied to Samsung Electronics recorded net selling of around 531.6 billion KRW.The cooling in trading activity is equally pronounced. The aforementioned 16 products posted an average daily trading volume of roughly 11.6787 trillion KRW from their listing in May through July 30. Since August, this has dropped to about 1.0059 trillion KRW, a decline of more than 90%, now equivalent to only about 8% of the level seen before the regulatory measures were implemented.The regulatory tightening began on July 31. South Korea's financial regulators raised the base margin threshold for single-stock leveraged ETFs from 10 million KRW to 30 million KRW; starting August 19, investors are also required to complete simulated trading before transacting in related products. Regulators plan to further increase the minimum trading unit, targeting an adjustment to 20 shares by November. Before the regulations were introduced, single-stock leveraged ETFs had enjoyed strong popularity among South Korean retail investors. Between May 27 and July 30, individual investors cumulatively net purchased approximately 15.2876 trillion KRW across the aforementioned 16 products, with SK Hynix-related products attracting about 9.9365 trillion KRW and Samsung Electronics-related products drawing around 5.3511 trillion KRW. (Newsis)
Odaily News According to data from the Korea Securities Depository, Korean retail investors are aggressively purchasing the ADR (American Depositary Receipt) of SK Hynix listed on the US Nasdaq, resulting in a significant premium for the ADR compared to the company's domestic shares.From the listing of the SK Hynix ADR on Nasdaq on July 10 to August 19, Korean investors recorded cumulative net purchases of approximately $835 million (about 1.16 trillion KRW) in SK Hynix ADR, ranking second among US stocks bought by Korean investors during the same period and accounting for 16.4% of the total net purchases of US stocks by Korean investors.This trend has led to a widening price gap between the SK Hynix ADR and its domestic shares. On August 19, SK Hynix's domestic shares closed down 9.75% at 1.5 million KRW, while the US-listed ADR rose 0.35% to close at $156.16. Since one SK Hynix ADR corresponds to 0.1 domestic share, the theoretical value of the domestic share converted from the ADR price should be approximately 10 times the ADR price. However, as of the 19th, the domestic share price was only 6.82 times the converted ADR price, indicating an approximate premium of 46.67% for the ADR over the domestic shares. (NATE)
Odaily News According to data from the Korea Securities Depository, Korean retail investors recorded a net purchase of approximately $85.61 million (about 118.5 billion KRW) in the "Roundhill Memory ETF" between August 14 and 20, making it the second-largest product by net purchase amount among the country's overseas individual stocks and ETFs (trailing only Google's parent company Alphabet). This actively managed ETF primarily invests in major memory chip companies such as Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix, and Micron.Recently, memory chip stocks have shown a clear rebound. From August 10 to 21, SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics saw their stock prices rise by 21.6% and 21.8%, respectively, both outpacing the 10.4% gain of the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) over the same period. On the US market side, Micron rose approximately 11% during the same timeframe, while SanDisk gained around 32%.The domestic Korean ETF market has also seen capital inflows. Data shows that between August 14 and 20, the "TIGER US S&P500 ETF," which tracks the S&P 500 index, attracted net inflows of 170.9 billion KRW, while the "KODEX US Nasdaq 100 ETF," which tracks the Nasdaq 100 index, saw net inflows of 132.3 billion KRW. Market analysts believe that as expectations for a semiconductor cycle recovery grow, investors are increasing their allocations to the AI chip and memory chip supply chain. (Daum)
Odaily News, Citrini analyst jukan stated on X platform that, according to informed sources, SK Hynix is advancing plans to invest trillions of KRW to build a memory chip wafer fab in Miyagi Prefecture in northeastern Japan. If realized, this would mark the first large-scale investment by a Korean semiconductor company establishing a local manufacturing base in Japan. As investment in Japan progresses, the United States is also expected to intensify pressure on Korean companies to expand memory chip production capacity in the U.S., further complicating future investment allocation decisions.According to reports from South Korea's Hankyoreh on the 20th, SK hynix is seeking to build a memory chip wafer fab in Miyagi Prefecture, located in northeastern Honshu, Japan. A business insider said, "As far as I understand, SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won recently visited the region in person." Miyagi Prefecture, along with Kyushu and Hokkaido, is one of three regions that the Japanese government plans to develop into major semiconductor industry hubs.It is reported that the project's investment scale is expected to reach trillions of KRW. Compared with the hundreds of trillions of KRW invested in domestic semiconductor clusters in Yongin and the Honam region of Korea, the Japan plant will be a relatively smaller-scale production base. The Miyagi fab will serve as an additional overseas manufacturing site, while SK hynix will continue its planned domestic investments in the Yongin and Honam semiconductor clusters as originally scheduled. The plan appears aimed at proactively expanding production capacity amid the ongoing global memory chip shortage.If realized, SK hynix would become the third foreign semiconductor company to operate semiconductor manufacturing facilities in Japan, following U.S.-based Micron and Taiwan's TSMC. Samsung Electronics currently operates only an advanced semiconductor packaging research center in Yokohama.However, the investment also carries risks. The United States has been pressuring the Korean government and Korean companies to invest in memory chip wafer fabs on U.S. soil. If SK hynix moves forward with investment in Japan, Washington may further demand that it expand local production capacity in the U.S. Additionally, SK hynix must navigate domestic political uncertainties in Korea, as well as the social sensitivity surrounding investment in Japan for strategic industries such as semiconductors.
Odaily News, Citrini analyst jukan posted on X platform, stating that Bank of America expects Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix to announce specific shareholder return plans.For Samsung Electronics, Bank of America expects it to return 50% of its free cash flow to shareholders, mainly including: paying special dividends of over 30 trillion KRW in Q3 or Q4; repurchasing over 40 trillion KRW worth of shares in H1 2027; and distributing year-end dividends of 30 trillion KRW in April 2027. In addition, Samsung Electronics will also repurchase an additional 30 trillion KRW worth of shares for employee compensation.For SK Hynix, Bank of America also expects it to return 50% of its free cash flow to shareholders, but the proportion of share buybacks will be higher than cash dividends, with an expected share repurchase amount of over 40 trillion KRW and cash dividends exceeding 20 trillion KRW.
Odaily News, Citrini analyst jukan posted on X platform that Korean media reports indicate SK hynix subsidiary Solidigm is seeking pre-IPO funding, potentially in preparation for a Nasdaq listing. Reports say the company's target valuation in this funding round is 50 trillion KRW. Solidigm is a U.S. subsidiary established by SK hynix in 2021 to take over Intel's NAND flash and SSD business, which SK hynix agreed to acquire for approximately 10 trillion KRW in 2020.
Odaily News: Domestic stablecoin funds in South Korea continue to flow to overseas exchanges. Data from the Financial Supervisory Service shows that in June 2026, the volume of stablecoins transferred from South Korea's top five crypto exchanges to overseas exchanges reached 2.7625 trillion KRW, while inflows amounted to 2.2022 trillion KRW, resulting in a net outflow of approximately 560.3 billion KRW (around $367 million).Data indicates that from January 2025 to June 2026, net outflows of stablecoins to overseas exchanges have exceeded inflows for 18 consecutive months. In the second quarter of this year, South Korea's net stablecoin outflow reached 1.6872 trillion KRW, while during the same period, net selling of overseas stock investments totaled 1.6185 trillion KRW. Analysts believe that stablecoins flowing overseas are primarily used for cryptocurrency derivatives unavailable on domestic exchanges, spot and futures products related to Korean stocks, as well as services such as RWA and DeFi.A South Korean lawmaker stated that capital outflows and high-leverage trading overseas have increased risks for investors, and the government needs to strengthen related regulations and protective measures. (Yonhap)
Citrini analyst jukan posted on platform X, stating that KIS has raised its target price for SK Hynix by 24% to 4.7 million KRW, with today's closing price at 1.41 million KRW.
According to "Digital Assets", South Korean blockchain platform WEMIX released an official announcement on July 27, acknowledging a security incident involving its stablecoin WEMIX$ (WEMIX Dollar) smart contract. The incident occurred at 6:18 PM on July 26, when the owner permissions of the WEMIX$ smart contract were hijacked, resulting in approximately $6.25 million (approximately 87 million KRW) worth of WEMIX$ being abnormally minted and transferred to external addresses. WEMIX stated that it has identified the addresses suspected of being used in the attack and is conducting on-chain tracking, while collaborating with major exchanges and blockchain security agencies to monitor the flow of stolen assets, and will cooperate with law enforcement agencies if necessary.
According to Upbit's announcement, South Korean crypto exchange Upbit will list Euler (EUL) on the Korean Won (KRW) market on July 26 at 12:00 (KST), supporting deposits and withdrawals on the Ethereum network. Within approximately 5 minutes after trading opens, buy orders and some sell orders will be restricted; within approximately 2 hours after opening, only limit orders will be supported. Euler is a decentralized finance lending protocol based on Ethereum, allowing users to create lending markets and deposit or borrow assets. Euler v2, launched in 2024, adopts a modular Vault structure, supporting users in building lending markets based on different assets and risk preferences, and can be extended to scenarios such as RWA, synthetic assets, and NFTs. The EUL token is primarily used for governance, Fee Flow bidding, and reward mechanisms.
Odaily News: Citrini analyst jukan posted on X, stating that Samsung Electronics is considering outsourcing the backend design work for the I/O Die of Google's 10th generation 2nm TPU "Icefish," and has already inquired with design solution partners about requirements. This TPU is used to run Google's AI models, including Gemini. Google is reportedly co-designing this chip with MediaTek, with mass production planned as early as 2028. The TPU consists of a compute processor and an I/O Die; the compute processor is expected to be manufactured by TSMC using a 1.4nm process, while the I/O Die will be manufactured by Samsung Electronics using a 2nm process. Recently, Samsung Electronics is said to have secured Anthropic and DeepX as 2nm customers, in addition to Google and Tesla.ADTechnology, Gaonchips, and Alphachips have been mentioned as potential outsourcing contractors. Among them, ADTechnology is focusing on a 2nm CPU project "ADP620," targeting an annual revenue exceeding 1 trillion KRW between 2028 and 2029. Gaonchips is preparing to participate in the "K-On-Device AI" project, which has a budget of approximately 800 billion KRW from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. Alphachips is reportedly viewing the Google TPU project as a growth driver and is becoming more actively involved.
Odaily news, Citrini analyst jukan posted on X platform, stating that local South Korean brokerages expect SK Hynix's operating profit to reach 60.4 trillion KRW, a 61% increase quarter-over-quarter and a 556% increase year-over-year, but still 8% below the market consensus of 65 trillion KRW. The shortfall is mainly due to SK Hynix's higher proportion of HBM revenue compared to its peers, resulting in its average selling price growth being lower than the market average.
despite another sharp decline in the South Korean stock index today, retail investor funds continued to show net inflows, with net purchases reaching 2.3179 trillion KRW (approximately $1.522 billion). However, foreign investors sold 2.274 trillion KRW (about $1.493 billion), driving the overall market down. Institutions also sold stocks worth 63.2 billion KRW. (Financial Post)According to Gate data, South Korea's KOSPI index plunged 8% intraday, with SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics falling around 10%. (Jinshi Data APP)
Odaily Odaily News: Citrini analyst jukan posted on X platform, stating that Samsung Electronics has a market cap of 1859.1 trillion KRW. According to its preliminary consolidated financial results, the Q2 2026 revenue was 171.0 trillion KRW, compared to a market expectation of 173.0 trillion KRW (1% below expectations); operating profit was 89.4 trillion KRW, compared to a market expectation of 84.6 trillion KRW (6% above expectations); net profit was not disclosed, while market expectations stood at 73.1 trillion KRW.Recent quarterly results show: Q1 2026 revenue was 133.9 trillion KRW, operating profit was 57.2 trillion KRW, net profit was 47.2 trillion KRW; Q4 2025 revenue was 93.8 trillion KRW, operating profit was 20.1 trillion KRW, net profit was 19.6 trillion KRW; Q3 2025 revenue was 86.1 trillion KRW, operating profit was 12.2 trillion KRW, net profit was 12.2 trillion KRW; Q2 2025 revenue was 74.6 trillion KRW, operating profit was 4.7 trillion KRW, net profit was 5.1 trillion KRW.
According to The Block, South Korea’s National Assembly has passed an amendment to the Foreign Exchange Transaction Act, requiring enterprises engaged in cross-border inflows and outflows of crypto assets to register with the Minister of Economy and Finance to strengthen systematic oversight of cross-border crypto asset flows. The amendment introduces a new definition of “virtual asset transfer business,” covering activities involving the transfer of crypto assets between South Korea and overseas jurisdictions through buying, selling, or exchanging—such as those conducted by cryptocurrency exchanges and digital asset custodians. Separately, it is reported that South Korea’s Financial Services Commission plans to extend the Travel Rule to all crypto transactions; South Korea also intends to impose a 22% tax on crypto asset gains exceeding 2.5 million KRW starting January 2027.
According to South Korean media outlet Newsis, a man in his twenties, who worked as a company finance staff member in South Korea, was sentenced to three years’ imprisonment by the Busan District Court for embezzling corporate funds to invest in cryptocurrencies. The court determined that between 2021 and 2025, he transferred company funds into his personal account approximately 680 times, embezzling a total of roughly 570 million KRW, which he used for cryptocurrency trading, overseas travel, and daily expenses. He also forged certificates of corporate deposit trust balances to conceal his crimes.
According to The Asia Business Daily, DS Investment & Securities issued a research report lowering NAVER’s target price from its previous level to 300,000 KRW, while maintaining a “Buy” rating. Analyst Choi Seung-ho noted that the downward revision is primarily driven by two factors: first, NAVER’s operating profit margin for this year is projected to decline from 18.3% to 17.6%, due to rising advertising and e-commerce marketing expenses as well as depreciation costs; second, delayed legislative progress on cryptocurrency-related regulations is directly affecting the proposed merger between NAVER Financial and Dunamu, raising the possibility of further postponement beyond the originally scheduled completion in September. Previously, DS Securities had assigned a valuation of 15 trillion KRW to NAVER’s cryptocurrency business within its Sum-of-the-Parts (SOTP) valuation; this portion has now been removed from the updated report. Choi Seung-ho added that the e-commerce business remains NAVER’s core growth engine going forward, with annual e-commerce sales expected to reach approximately 2.7 trillion KRW.