Tesla Faces $657M Sell-Off as South Korean Investors Flock to Crypto

In South Korea, Tesla no longer embodies the dream of retail investors. According to Bloomberg, nearly 1.8 billion dollars vanished in four months, including 657 million in August alone, marking the largest outflow since 2019. Behind this disenchantment, a growing unease: lacking a new narrative around AI or autonomous driving, the manufacturer no longer captivates as much. Result: despite its status as the most held foreign stock, Korean investors are abandoning Tesla for bets considered more dynamic and quicker.

Bitmine and crypto stocks: a new obsession

Tesla is losing ground. While its future is being decided as much in the stock market as in court, other stocks capture the frenzy: crypto-related stocks. In August, over 253 million dollars flowed to Bitmine Immersion Technologies, considered a proxy for Ethereum. The previous month, 259 million had already been invested in this company, propelling it to the top of foreign purchases.

The movement is not limited to Bitmine. Circle Internet Group and Coinbase are also riding this wave, with respective investments of 226 and 183 million dollars last month. The trend is clear: Korean retail investors, once fascinated by American tech giants, are now betting massively on the crypto ecosystem.

The numbers speak for themselves. In January, barely 8.5% of the 50 most acquired stocks by Korean retail investors were crypto-related.

Six months later, this figure jumped to 36.5%, before slightly falling to 31.4% in July. As for 2025, it already shows more than 12 billion dollars invested in this sector. A historic shift, reshaping the global landscape of investment flows.

A shift driven by regulation and speculation

Behind this frenzy, two drivers emerge. On one hand, speculation: cryptos and their derivatives offer opportunities for quick gains that Tesla or Apple no longer provide.

On the other hand, the regulatory environment is evolving. South Korea is moving forward on won-backed stablecoins, reinforcing the idea that these assets are no longer a trend, but an investment class on the way to institutionalization.

However, uncertainty remains. The future chairman of the Financial Services Commission, Lee Won-eun, recently reminded that digital assets “have no intrinsic value,” rejecting their inclusion in retirement accounts. This stance illustrates a paradox: while retail investors rush towards cryptos, regulators still hesitate to grant them full legitimacy.

This tension could shape the coming months. On one side, a base of risk-hungry investors redirecting billions away from Wall Street. On the other, a legal framework struggling to keep up. One certainty emerges though: Tesla is no longer the undisputed star in South Korea. The new favorite bets are now on leading cryptocurrencies.