A crypto whale closed out a $35 million long position in MU, booking a profit of $1.71 million.

South Korean retail investors are once again heavily buying high-leverage Contracts for Difference (CFDs). Data from the Korea Financial Investment Association shows that as of July 21, South Korea's CFD holdings have risen to approximately 3.3 trillion won (around $2.2 billion), an increase of nearly two-thirds from a year ago. Data shows that SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics have become the most concentrated leveraged betting targets for South Korean retail investors. Over the past year, SK Hynix's CFD holdings surged nearly 2500% to 235 billion won, while Samsung Electronics' CFD positions expanded to around 217 billion won, five times their level a year prior. CFDs allow investors to gain full exposure to underlying assets by posting only around 40% margin, without actually owning the underlying stocks. Analysts note that when market declines trigger margin calls, the spot stocks held by banks to hedge their risks may be sold off simultaneously, amplifying market volatility. The market is concerned that risks from CFDs, when combined with products like margin trading and leveraged ETFs, could trigger a chain liquidation effect during market corrections. The Korea Capital Market Institute stated that if a large number of leveraged positions are concentrated in the same direction and investors fail to meet margin calls, forced liquidations will further exacerbate market volatility. South Korea saw in 2023 a wave of concentrated liquidations in retail CFD positions, which caused multiple stocks to hit their daily limit declines in succession and prompted regulatory crackdowns. Analysts believe that as South Korean retail investors ramp up high-leverage trading again, similar risks are drawing market attention once more.

Data released by the Bank of Korea on Wednesday shows that driven by rising housing and securities prices, South Korea’s per capita household net worth reached 274.7 million won (approximately $185,600) in 2025, growing by over 9% year-on-year. This growth rate marked a significant jump from the 3% recorded in 2024. In 2025, South Korea’s stock market delivered the strongest performance among Asian markets: the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) surged nearly 76% for the full year, its largest gain since 1999, far outperforming the S&P 500’s roughly 17% rise and the MSCI Asia Pacific Index’s around 25% increase. The core driver behind this historic rally was the cyclical recovery of the global semiconductor industry. Semiconductor giants like Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix—pillars of South Korea’s economy—exerted significant influence on the broader market via their earnings and stock performance. The chief Asia Pacific strategist at Goldman Sachs previously noted that the end of semiconductor inventory destocking, combined with a new demand cycle driven by artificial intelligence, has brought strong earnings recovery expectations for South Korean tech stocks, serving as the core engine pushing the KOSPI upward.

Algorithmic stablecoin Balance Coin has suffered a severe depegging amid a suspected security incident, with its price plummeting from around $0.9954 to $0.001358, a drop of over 99%. Blockchain security firm PeckShield stated that the depegging is linked to an approximately $915,000 attack on 42DAO, the decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) governing the Balance Protocol ecosystem and its BLC token. Another security firm TenArmor said it has detected suspicious attack activities involving GemJoin and 42DAO on BNB Chain. To date, the project team has not disclosed the detailed cause of the incident or subsequent handling plans.

According to The Korea Herald, the K-Capital Market Special Committee under South Korea’s ruling Democratic Party is studying lowering the leverage multiple of leveraged and inverse ETF products tracking individual stock price movements from 2 times to 1.5 times. The proposal follows President Lee Jae-myung’s instruction to “formulate response measures”, with committee chairman Gu Jae-myung confirming on the 22nd that relevant discussions are ongoing. These products were launched during the Moon Jae-in administration, under the policy backdrop of the KOSPI index’s 5,000-point target, and now face adjustments as the index approaches that goal. The special committee is also discussing raising the threshold for convening “beneficiary meetings” — currently, investors holding more than 5% of total subscription shares can call such meetings — to a higher bar, to prevent excessive speculation in leveraged products. Some academics, including professors from Sejong University and Seoul National University, support the move, saying it will boost investment safety and curb excessive volatility. The Financial Services Commission responded that no specific proposals have been submitted for discussion yet. In contrast, Chairman Oh Moon-kyung and others proposed alternative measures such as prioritizing expanding the scale of “liquidity providers (LPs)”, stressing that single-stock ETFs like Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix have performed well recently, so major increases in listing restrictions should be avoided.

According to Hyperinsight monitoring, as of press time, 5 of the 7 SKHX long positions tracked yesterday have reduced their original longs to zero, involving 5,101.544 SKHX units—accounting for 50.2% of yesterday’s total new large long orders. Including the 50.66 units added by two whales before exiting, the 5 addresses have collectively sold 5,152.204 SKHX units, worth ~$6.662 million, at an average transaction price of ~$1,293, with total realized profits of $401,500. The liquidations ran from 17:00 yesterday to 8:00 today, with per-address liquidation average prices ranging from $1,257.50 to $1,342.15, generating realized profits of $55,600 to $130,900 each; the two who exited this morning had average prices above $1,330. Post-liquidation, the five’s positions: one address (0xd65) immediately opened a short of 999 units, with an average entry price of $1,349.27, current position value ~$1.3216 million, and unrealized profit of ~$26,300. Another address (0x111) is waiting for a pullback with no positions, having placed 4 limit buy orders in the $1,236–$1,301 range totaling ~$891,900. The remaining two have exited completely. The other two whales have not traded since yesterday’s update, still holding 5,058.7 SKHX longs worth ~$6.6957 million, with a weighted average entry price of ~$1,232.90, unrealized profit of ~$458,700, and latest liquidation price of $973.87. As SKHX continued to rise overnight, these two inactive whales’ unrealized profit has surpassed the total realized gains of the five profit-takers. On the market front: SKHX is currently trading at ~$1,322.9, up 4.6% from $1,264.7 when yesterday’s update was released, with a 24-hour gain of ~6.6%. SKHY is now at $170.04 (10 units equal $1,700.4), its premium over SKHX expanding from 25.3% yesterday to ~28.5%. Previous news: When SK Hynix rebounded, 7 whales collectively opened $12.8 million worth of SKHX positions in the same direction.

According to local media reports, Pakistan’s Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has established a cryptocurrency investigation unit under its National Command and Control Center, dedicated to combating illegal and criminal activities involving digital assets. Muhammad Athar Waheed, head of FIA’s Counter-Terrorism Department, stated that the unit will focus on investigating crimes such as money laundering and terrorist financing conducted via cryptocurrency, and will collaborate with Pakistan’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (PVARA) in law enforcement operations. Waheed also recommended that the National Cyber Crimes Investigation Agency (NCCIA) and the Anti-Narcotics Force should set up dedicated teams to strengthen the crackdown on illegal activities like cybercrime and drug trafficking facilitated by cryptocurrency. In recent years, Pakistan has steadily advanced its digital asset regulatory framework. In March this year, Pakistan’s parliament passed the Virtual Assets Act, officially establishing PVARA as a permanent federal regulatory body responsible for issuing licenses to trading platforms, custodians, and token issuers. To date, PVARA has granted operating licenses to several major crypto platforms, including Binance and HTX. Additionally, Bilal bin Saqib, chairman of PVARA, previously noted that Pakistan plans to launch a national sovereign stablecoin, has announced the establishment of a national bitcoin reserve, and allocated 2,000 megawatts of electricity for bitcoin mining and AI data center construction.