Korean Stocks Hit Record Highs, Trading Volume Surges on trade.xyz for Related Futures Contracts, Tokenization of Physical Assets Remains Sluggish

On May 11, as Korean stocks hit repeated new highs, trading activity for related contracts on trade.xyz surged notably. Among these, SK Hynix—whose share price has doubled over the past month—emerged as the platform’s mainstream trading pair. As of press time, its open interest stood at $32.08 million, with 24-hour trading volume reaching $8.03 million. The ETF EWY, which tracks South Korea’s stock index, recorded open interest of $20.62 million on trade.xyz and 24-hour trading volume of $11.66 million. Contracts for other stocks like Samsung and Hyundai remained relatively quiet. Additionally, EWY contracts are traded on Binance, where current open interest is $10.9 million and 24-hour trading volume totals $25.15 million. In stark contrast to the heated contract trading, the tokenized spot versions of these assets have slumped. Data shows EWYON—issued by Ondo—has a 24-hour trading volume of less than $0.3 million. This directly reflects the crypto community’s aggressive risk appetite.