SK Hynix Leveraged, Inverse ETFs Surge to Record Trading Volume on July 20

According to Economist, on July 20, South Korean retail investors placed simultaneous bets on both rising and falling prices for SK Hynix-related exchange-traded funds (ETFs), with KODEX SK Hynix Leverage recording 4.2899 trillion Korean won in daily trading volume and SOL SK Hynix Inverse 2X reaching 3.9195 trillion won. The inverse ETF, with a market cap of just 204.8 billion won, saw daily trading volume approximately 19 times its size, indicating extreme high-frequency rotation trading.

Securities analysts warned that investors who suffered losses from leveraged products are increasingly deploying additional capital in both leveraged and inverse ETFs in attempts to recover losses quickly, rather than reducing risk exposure during volatile markets. This shift reflects a growing pattern where retail investors treat volatility itself as a profit opportunity through directional short-term trades.