Retail investors from South Korea made significant sales of Tesla shares in August 2025, generating $657 million from the transactions. This marks the largest capital outflow from Tesla since early 2019. The proceeds were redirected towards acquiring crypto assets, indicating a shift in investment preferences among Korean traders.
This is reported by Business • Media
Growing Interest in Crypto Assets
Part of the capital was invested in Bitmine Immersion Technologies Inc., which is considered one of the proxy assets for Ethereum. Over the month, this company attracted $253 million in net investments, highlighting the increasing demand for digital assets among South Korean investors.
Overall, in the past four months, the outflow of funds from Tesla has reached $1.8 billion, demonstrating a significant decline in trust in the company’s shares among Korean retail traders. Previously, they were among the most active investors in U.S. technology companies, especially during the pandemic, when their investments actively supported the rise in stock prices.
Tesla’s Market Position and Investor Opinions
Despite the massive outflow, Tesla shares remain the most popular among foreign securities in the portfolios of Korean retail investors. Collectively, they hold shares in the company worth $21.9 billion, while Nvidia Corp. and Palantir Technologies Inc. rank second and third in popularity, but with significantly smaller investment volumes.
At the same time, even the TSLL exchange-traded fund, which provides double leverage on Tesla shares, recorded a record outflow of $554 million in August, the largest figure since the beginning of 2024.
“Tesla used to offer many inspiring stories, but it failed to win people’s hearts. It couldn’t become a leader through its own narrative about artificial intelligence,” noted 33-year-old investor Han Chongsu, who bought shares in the company back in 2019 but sold them in early 2025 to invest in other projects.
Some investors indicate that Tesla no longer meets their expectations and are choosing alternative avenues for investment. It is worth noting that according to the financial report for the second quarter of 2025, Tesla holds 11,509 BTC on its balance sheet.