S. Korean retail investors shift from US big tech to crypto-related stocks

Seoul, Aug 11
South Korean individuals investing in overseas stocks have increasingly turned to virtual asset-related shares, such as those tied to stablecoins, instead of US big tech shares, a report showed on Monday.

The proportion of virtual asset-related stocks among the top 50 net-bought stocks by local individual investors rose from 8.5 percent in January to 36.5 percent in June before slightly declining to 31.4 percent in July, according to a report by the Korean Center for International Finance (KCIF).

Net purchases of the top seven U.S. big tech stocks, however, dropped from a monthly average of $1.68 billion between January and April to $440 million in May, $670 million in June and further to $260 million in July, reports Yonhap news agency.

"Investments in virtual assets, particularly in shares related to stablecoins, have expanded following the passage of the U.S. GENIUS Act," the report said. Last month, U.S. President Donald Trump signed the act, which focuses on setting up regulatory guidelines for the stablecoin industry and paves the way for private firms to issue them.

Overall, South Korean retail investors became net sellers of overseas stocks in May after several months of net buying and continued to sell through June.

Although they returned to net buying in July with purchases totaling $499 million, the momentum remained weak compared with the monthly average buying of $3.8 billion during the first four months of this year.

"Since June, the domestic stock market has outperformed overseas markets, while the local currency has strengthened, prompting individual investors to withdraw their investments from foreign markets," the KCIF said.

Given lingering concerns about the impact of the U.S. tariff scheme on the real economy, retail investors are unlikely to actively invest in overseas stocks for the time being, it added.