South Korea’s KOSPI crashes 10% as regulator admits ETF mistake – Bitcoin falls below $63,000
South Korea’s KOSPI fell 9.99%, triggering a market-wide trading halt after a sharp selloff in Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, which each dropped more than 12%. The index’s heavy concentration in the two chipmakers amplified the decline, even though it was still up nearly 95% for the year. Foreign investors reduced exposure as US tech weakness and expectations of higher-for-longer rates pressured Asian markets. The rout also highlighted risks from leveraged ETFs tied to Samsung and SK Hynix. South Korea’s regulator said it had rushed approval of the products, which were meant to draw retail investors back to domestic stocks but instead added rebalancing pressure and potential forced selling. Record retail borrowing increased the danger of margin calls. Bitcoin fell below $63,000 in the same risk-off move as leveraged crypto positions were liquidated. Around $714 million in crypto positions were forced closed over 24 hours, with longs hit hardest. Weak ETF inflows and large recent outflows left Bitcoin with less support.
