Korea’s “chip gamblers” fiasco: losses half in two months, 1.2 million people get margin calls

South Korea’s younger generation is treating AI chips as a route to getting rich—but they ended up taking a major tumble.

By late May 2026, after Korean exchanges just cleared 16 leveraged ETFs from Samsung Electronics and SK hynix at 2x, retail investors rushed in—net buying 140 trillion won in two months, while foreign capital over the same period only bought 20 trillion won. In other words, this chip rally was almost entirely Korean investors picking up their own tab. $HYPE

In mid-July, the market turned—and the leverage backlash arrived:

KODEX 2x leveraged ETFs linked to SK hynix retreated about 70% from the June peak; the fund is only two months old and already down half
More than 1.2 million leveraged accounts nationwide triggered margin calls, of which 320,000 to 360k were forcibly liquidated by brokerages
On the month, unrealized losses exceeded 2.15 trillion won
Ages 20–30 accounted for 62% of the liquidation count

The problem lies in the “daily leverage constant” mechanism of leveraged ETFs—when the stock price falls, the fund mechanically cuts exposure. The more it drops, the more it sells, creating a vicious cycle of forced selling → further declines, amplifying volatility for you to see. $BANK

On July 16, South Korea’s Financial Services Commission moved urgently: entry margin for single-stock leveraged ETFs was raised from 3 million won to 30 million won—an 10x threshold—while approval for new products was paused. The market still needs time to digest positions in memory-chip holdings, so in the short term, South Korean tech stocks are likely to face added pressure. #中软国际携手月之暗面布局AgenticAI