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South Korean retail investors are reportedly pulling their funds from traditional investment assets like stocks and reinvesting the money in Bitcoin (BTC).
The recent development comes amid the latest cryptocurrency bull market that has seen the price of one unit of BTC trading above $58,000 earlier today.
According to a report today by local news outlet Korea JoongAng Daily, the volume of stock investments has decreased significantly since early January, as bitcoin’s price continues to soar.
Throughout January 2021, retail investors in Korea purchased a combined 25.9 trillion won ($23.3 billion) worth of shares, according to data provided by the Korea Exchange, operator of the country’s stock market.
However, the amount of stock investments has declined this month, as the country’s stock market has recorded only 5 trillion won ($4.5 billion) worth of shares purchases.
Furthermore, the Korea Financial Investment Association noted that the amount of deposits in stock trading accounts has decreased by 11.1 % between January 12, 2021, and February 18, 2021.
Korean Investors Prefer Bitcoin Over Stocks
Apparently, investors are liquidating their stock investments and “putting their money into bitcoin instead,” some experts confirm.
Investors have been comparing Bitcoin and stock investments since the beginning of the year, as the popular cryptocurrency kept recording major gains while stocks’ value continued to plummet.
Mr. Cho, a traditional stock investor, said he invested 51 million won ($45,883) in Bitcoin after selling two-thirds of his 90 million won ($81,000) stock investment.
Even though the decision was not easy for him, he chose BTC over stocks because of the asset’s rally and testimony from one of his friends who made massive profit investing in it.
Massive Crypto Interest
Interestingly, the number of new accounts opened in South Korean commercial banks to deal in cryptocurrencies has increased significantly over the last month.
As per the report, NH Nonghyup Bank, Shinhan Bank, and K bank noted that potential crypto investors created nearly 1.4 million accounts within the period.
Similarly, new account signup on the popular cryptocurrency exchange, Bithumb, spiked by a whopping 760% last month compared to the previous year.
Bitcoin is well on its way to mainstream adoption as several institutional investors and popular personalities recognize its potential.
Nexo’s co-founder, Antoni Trenchev, recently asserted that bitcoin is the best performing asset and a better version of Gold.
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