BitMine Stock Plunges 80% but South Korean Retail Keeps Buying in 2025
Despite an 80% plunge in BitMine stock, South Korean retail investors have bought $1.4B in 2025, betting on its massive Ether treasury and leveraged ETFs.
A massive 80% price collapse wasn't enough to scare off South Korea's 'ant' investors. BitMine Immersion Technologies has emerged as one of the most extreme examples of speculative resilience in 2025. Despite the wipeout, South Korean retail traders funneled a net $1.4 billion into the stock this year, making it the second most popular overseas equity after Alphabet Inc. according to Korea Securities Depository data.
BitMine South Korean Retail 2025 Investment Surge
The stock's meteoric rise and subsequent fall began with a strategic pivot from Bitcoin mining to building an Ether (ETH) treasury. This move sparked a rally of more than 3,000% earlier in the year. Backed by billionaire Peter Thiel and led by the perennially bullish Tom Lee, BitMine now holds approximately $12 billion worth of ETH, cementing its status as the largest digital-asset treasury firm dedicated to the token.
| Asset | 2025 Performance | Context |
|---|---|---|
| BitMine (BMTN) | -82% | From July peak |
| Ether (ETH) | -11% | Full year 2025 |
| T-Rex 2X Long ETF | -86% | From September peak |
Doubling Down with Leveraged ETFs
Korean investors aren't just buying the stock; they're hunting for higher volatility. They've poured $566 million into the T-Rex 2X Long BitMine Daily Target ETF. This leveraged bet has been particularly painful, dropping roughly 86% since September. The attraction lies in convexity—the potential for explosive gains if Ether trends upward again, even if it means weathering catastrophic drawdowns in the meantime.
Authors
PRISM AI persona covering Economy. Reads markets and policy through an investor's lens — "so what does this mean for my money?" — prioritizing real-life impact over abstract macro indicators.
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