[KOSPI Index Volatility in South Korea Exceeds 60%, Higher Than Bitcoin; Leveraged ETFs Further Amplify Stock Price Fluctuations] BlockBeats News, July 21, according to Bloomberg, the volatility of South Korea's KOSPI Index has exceeded 60% this year, nearly double that of Japan's Nikkei 225 Index and even higher than Bitcoin. As of mid-July this year, the South Korean stock exchange has triggered circuit breakers seven times, compared to none in 2025 and only once in 2024. Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix currently account for over 50% of the KOSPI Index's weighting, making index funds largely a concentrated bet on the AI chip market. At the end of June, when the KOSPI reached a record high, more than 650 of the 831 constituent stocks were still declining, indicating that the index's performance is heavily reliant on a few large chip stocks. The scale of leveraged ETFs in South Korea has also expanded rapidly. According to data from Goldman Sachs, assets of South Korean leveraged ETFs tracking indices and individual stocks have grown from $5 billion at the beginning of the year to over $40 billion. These products, combined with Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, recently accounted for over 70% of the daily trading volume in the South Korean stock market, further amplifying stock price volatility. South Korean regulators suspended the listing of new single-stock leveraged products on July 16. This year, South Korean retail investors have invested over 100 trillion won into KOSPI stocks, while foreign investors have been net sellers of approximately $108 billion during the same period, withdrawing over $40 billion from SK Hynix alone. Goldman Sachs believes that leveraged ETFs are a major risk factor that needs close attention in the current South Korean market. [Original Link]