Despite a significant retreat from its July peak, BitMine Immersion Technologies (BMNR.US), an Ethereum hoarding company, is still projected to be one of South Korea's most popular overseas stocks in 2025. According to data from the Korea Securities Depository, this US-listed firm, backed by billionaire Peter Thiel and led by Wall Street analyst Tom Lee, ranks second among the foreign securities most favored by Korean investors for 2025, trailing only Alphabet (GOOGL.US), the parent company of Google. South Korean retail investors, famously dubbed the "ant army," are known for chasing high-risk assets. Within the cryptocurrency sphere, they show a particular preference for so-called "altcoins"—the vast array of small-cap tokens known for their extreme price volatility. This year, a new category of digital asset treasury companies—entities that are publicly listed and focus exclusively on hoarding cryptocurrencies—has rapidly captured the attention of Korean traders. After BitMine announced on July 3rd its pivot from Bitcoin mining to hoarding Ethereum (the second-largest cryptocurrency by market cap), its stock price skyrocketed over 3000%, reaching an all-time high. Previously almost unnoticed by investors, the company swiftly became the overseas stock with the highest net purchases by Koreans in July following its strategic shift. However, since its peak, BitMine's share price has plummeted by approximately 82%. Yet, Korean retail investors appear undeterred: data from the Korea Securities Depository shows that as of December 29th, they had made a net investment of $1.4 billion into BitMine for 2025. Retail investors are also amplifying their bets using even riskier instruments, pouring $566 million into the "2x Long BitMine Daily Target ETF" launched by T-Rex. This ETF, introduced after BitMine's summer surge, aims to deliver twice the daily return of its underlying asset. Since its peak in September, the fund has declined by roughly 86%. According to data compiled by strategicethreserve.xyz, BitMine currently holds approximately $12 billion worth of Ethereum, making it the largest digital asset treasury company focused specifically on that token. Ethereum itself has declined about 11% in 2025. Buying momentum driven by listed hoarding entities had pushed it to a record high near $5,000 in August, but those gains have since been entirely erased. At the time of writing, Ethereum is trading at $2,979.
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