A little-known U.S.-listed company that pivoted into holding Ether (ETH) has emerged as one of the most heavily traded foreign stocks among South Korean investors in 2025, underscoring the market’s continued appetite for high-risk, high-volatility assets, even after sharp drawdowns.
What Happened
BitMine Immersion Technologies Inc., a digital-asset treasury firm focused on Ether accumulation, is on track to finish the year as the second most favored overseas equity among South Korean retail investors, trailing only Alphabet, according to data from the Korea Securities Depository, Bloomberg reported.
The ranking places BitMine ahead of a wide range of global blue-chip and growth stocks.
The interest comes despite a dramatic reversal in the company’s share price.
BitMine’s stock soared earlier this year after the company announced it would abandon its Bitcoin (BTC) mining strategy in favor of building an Ether-heavy balance sheet.
That strategic shift briefly catapulted the stock into the spotlight, driving a rally of more than thirty-fold by early July and making it the most actively purchased foreign equity by South Korean investors during that period.
Since peaking in early July, BitMine’s shares have fallen more than 80%.
Even so, South Korean retail traders, often referred to locally as “ants” for their collective buying power, have continued to add exposure.
Net purchases of BitMine stock by South Korean investors totaled approximately $1.4 billion in 2025 as of late December, according to the depository’s figures.
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Why It Matters
Risk appetite has extended beyond the underlying equity.
Investors also funneled hundreds of millions of dollars into a leveraged exchange-traded fund designed to deliver twice BitMine’s daily price movement.
That product launched after the stock’s midyear surge and has since suffered steep losses, falling more than 80% from its peak.
South Korea’s retail investor base has long been associated with aggressive positioning in volatile markets, including cryptocurrency-linked assets and smaller digital tokens.
This year, their focus has increasingly shifted toward publicly traded companies that function as crypto accumulation vehicles, offering equity-based exposure to digital assets rather than direct token ownership.
BitMine is now the largest publicly known Ether-focused digital-asset treasury, holding an estimated $12 billion worth of the cryptocurrency, according to industry tracking data.
The company is backed by prominent investors, including billionaire Peter Thiel, and is led by market strategist Tom Lee.
Ether itself has struggled to sustain momentum in the second half of the year.
After reaching an all-time high near $5,000 in August, a move partly fueled by enthusiasm around Ether-accumulating firms, the token has since retreated and is down roughly eleven percent for the year.
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