Korean traders sell $657M in Tesla, pivot $253M into BitMine

The global economy is still adjusting and dealing with the aftereffects of US President Trump’s tariffs. Amid all the volatilities, South Korea’s army of retail traders is reportedly cashing out of Tesla Inc. Local investors dumped a net $657 million of the carmaker’s shares in August. This has been seen as the biggest monthly outflow since early 2023.

Once among Tesla’s most loyal global backers are now heading into riskier bets, choosing the crypto market. This includes pulling shares of BitMine Immersion Technologies Inc., a U.S. firm that’s become a proxy for Ethereum. However, the firm stock saw net inflows of $253 million from Korean retail traders.

Korean retail exodus hits Tesla stock

An unexpected shift in the traders’ mood highlights the waning faith in Tesla’s AI promises and growing appetite for higher-octane bets. Meanwhile, South Korean investors’ buying sprees had amplified Tesla’s rallies through the pandemic boom, but now they are looking for something else.

The report mentioned that a 33-year-old investor who first bought Tesla shares in 2019 but sold out this year to chase newer plays. He stated that “It has failed to lead with its own AI narrative.”

Tesla’s share price is up by more than 17% over the last 6 months, but it is still trailing by 12% on a year-to-date (YTD) basis. This suggests that the EV making giant saw a massive pump at the beginning of the year, however, it wasn’t able to keep up the momentum. Tesla share price dipped by 1.45% in the last trading session to trade at $333.86.

Ethereum mania lifts BitMine

The timing isn’t accidental, as Ethereum has outperformed Bitcoin lately. In fact, Ether linked ETFs are pulling in more money than Bitcoin for the first time. They saw $1.5 billion in inflows in a single week compared to Bitcoin’s $244 million.

$ETH price is running up by 28% over the last 30 days and 69% over the last 60 days. On the other side, Bitcoin price fell by 3.6% and 2% in the same period. The massive spike in $ETH buying led to the biggest altcoin to hit above $4,900, marking its fresh all-time high (ATH). $ETH is trading at an average price of $4,471 at the press time. Its 24-hour trading volume surged by 43% to stand at $31 billion.

BitMine (BMNR) is already doubling down on the frenzy. Since launching an Ethereum treasury strategy in June, it has bagged 1.79 million $ETH (approx. worth $8 billion). This makes it the world’s largest Ethereum corporate holder and the second-largest crypto treasury overall, behind only MicroStrategy’s Bitcoin stash.

BitMine share price spiked by more than 520% on a YTD basis, while it ran up by 707% over the last 6 months. BMNR price dipped by 16% in the last 5 trading days as the crypto market printed red indexes all around. The share closed trading at $43.62 in the last trading session.