“Squid Game” hits Wall Street! Korean retail investors bet on U.S. meme stocks, overseas holdings surge to $170 billion
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Korean retail investors are bringing their “Squid Game”-style aggressive trading strategies to Wall Street.
According to data from the Korea Securities Depository, the scale of U.S. stocks held by Korean investors reached a record $170 billion at the end of October, nearly double from the beginning of the year. Their entry is reshaping the frenzied trajectory of U.S. meme stocks.
The Korean stock market has long been known for its active retail investors—they account for more than half of daily trading volume, dare to use leverage and chase hot topics, making the market highly volatile. Now, this “speculative gene” is being exported across the ocean.
Seiwoon Hwang, a senior researcher at the Korea Capital Market Institute, pointed out: “Korean retail investors are strengthening the meme stock phenomenon in U.S. equities.” This means that their trading style is combining with American speculative forces, pushing the emotional U.S. “meme” circle into even greater frenzy.
Buying Meme Stocks Like Crazy! Korean Retail Investors Become a New Engine of Volatility for U.S. Equities
Korean retail investors have been particularly eye-catching in the U.S. stock market this year.
According to data from the Korea Securities Depository, Korean investors hold about $4.4 billion in shares of American quantum computing company IonQ, nearly one fifth of the company’s total market capitalization, making IonQ the fifth largest U.S. stock holding among Korean retail investors. The stock price of IonQ soared 370% from March to October.
Meanwhile, in October this year, they made a net purchase of $239 million worth of shares in plant-based meat company Beyond Meat—a meme stock that experienced a roller-coaster ride of surges and crashes that month.
As CLSA Korea equity strategist Jongmin Shim put it: “Korean retail investors are really crazy; their appetite for risk is much higher than investors in other countries.”
Owen Lamont, portfolio manager at Acadian Asset Management, even warned: “The U.S. stock market could turn into the Korean stock market.”
In a research article titled “The Squid Game Stock Market,” he compared the high-risk gambling behavior of Korean investors to the hit Netflix series “Squid Game”—a metaphor for high-pressure competition and extreme bets.
Lamont believes that the influx of this kind of capital is distorting the valuation system, further amplifying the scale and volatility of the “speculative sector” in the U.S. stock market.
Behind the Overseas Enthusiasm: Wealth Anxiety and “Dopamine Trading”
This year, driven by AI and governance reforms, the Korean stock market has performed outstandingly, making it one of the best major markets globally. Yet many retail investors are still choosing to invest overseas, and the reasons are not complicated.
This year, the Kospi index rose about 70%, but the S&P 500’s gain measured in Korean won exceeded 300% over the same period—this huge gap is pushing investors toward overseas markets.
Meanwhile, Jongmin Shim pointed out that high housing prices and wealth inequality are driving more ordinary Koreans to seek a “comeback” in financial assets. “Many people, unable to afford houses, are forced to look for turnaround opportunities in the stock market.”
It is worth noting that the Korean won has depreciated nearly 5% in the past three months. Analysts believe that the continued buying of U.S. stocks by Korean investors is one of the main factors leading to capital outflow and currency depreciation pressure.
In addition, the fact that Korean retail investors can so easily participate in U.S. stock trading is also thanks to advanced mobile trading systems provided by local brokers. As one investor described: “It’s very easy to buy and sell U.S. stocks on the platform. Dopamine keeps me awake late at night, and I don’t even have to exchange currencies myself; the system does it automatically.”
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