The current stagnation in South Korea’s digital asset market may be nothing more than the “calm before the storm,” according to Jeff Park, a researcher at Bitwise.
Park has predicted that a massive surge in Bitcoin’s price is inevitable once retail investors decide to exit their currently profitable positions in the traditional stock market.
Park has pointed to the massive amount of capital currently parked in South Korea’s leading industrial and tech giants.
“Imagine the candle when Korean retail finally rotates out of Hynix, Samsung, and Hanmi and comes back to Bitcoin,” Park noted. “It’s simply a matter of time.”
What the prediction actually means
South Korean retail traders are known globally for their high-risk, high-reward trading style and their ability to move markets through sheer volume.
Park has specifically mentioned SK Hynix, Samsung Electronics, and Hanmi Pharmaceutical. These are the “Blue Chip” titans of the KOSPI (the South Korean stock exchange).
Samsung and Hynix are the global leaders in high-bandwidth memory (HBM) and semiconductors. These stocks have been the primary beneficiaries of the ongoing AI boom throughout 2025 and early 2026.
Hanmi represents the county’s domestic pharmaceutical and biotech sector.
Currently, Korean retail capital is “trapped” in these stocks because they are performing well.
The moment these investors perceive a peak in tech stocks, they will “rotate” (sell their shares) and flood back into Bitcoin simultaneously, Park argues.
The “Kimchi premium”
South Korea has historically been the home of the “Kimchi Premium,” where Bitcoin often trades at a 5% to 15% higher price than on global exchanges due to intense local demand.
Park’s prediction comes at a time when the South Korean government is tightening the screws on the industry with 22% capital gains taxes and stricter reporting mandates. As reported by U.Today, the industry is currently struggling to recover from the Bithumb disaster.
If Bitcoin begins to outperform the KOSPI tech giants, the “rotation” Park describes could trigger a liquidity event large enough to be felt across the global crypto market.
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