Korean Investors Flock to Offshore Exchanges for High-Risk Trading Opportunities

Korean investors are increasingly accessing high-risk cryptocurrency exchanges that offer leverage up to 150 times on KORU, a perpetual futures contract tracking the Kospi index.

Binance, the world's largest crypto exchange, has been at the forefront of this trend, listing products with increasing leverage since June 2. The company initially offered 20 times leverage on Samsung Electronics and SK hynix shares, before introducing a KORU product with 50 times leverage just four days later.

This means that if an investor bets on a rise in the Kospi index, even a small gain of 1% could theoretically translate to a 150% return. However, if the bet goes against the investor's expectations, there is a high risk of forced liquidation due to the extreme leverage.

Industry insiders are raising concerns about the ease with which Korean investors can access these high-risk products, despite the fact that they are not registered with the Korea Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) or protected by Korean investor regulations.