Korean Stock Products with 150x Leverage Spread Overseas

High-risk products prohibited in Korea are spreading rapidly on overseas cryptocurrency exchanges, sparking alarm over gaps in investor protection and market disruption.

The Korean stock investment products offering '150x leverage' - unthinkable domestically - have been listed on major overseas exchanges including Binance, KuCoin, OKX, Bybit, Bitget, MEXC, XT, and BitMart since last month.

KuCoin, MEXC, XT, and BitMart are among the exchanges the Financial Services Commission (FSC) has referred for investigation on suspicion of operating without registration.

Binance first introduced Korean stock market-related products on Nov. 2, launching perpetual futures based on Samsung Electronics, SK hynix, and Hyundai Motor with maximum leverage at 20x.

However, as investors flocked to the products, the Samsung Electronics and SK hynix products have since been expanded to as much as 50x, allowing for gains or losses of up to 150 times the KOSPI's fluctuation rate.

The problem is that high-risk products not permitted in Korea are being traded virtually without limit overseas.