South Korea’s stock market suffered one of its fastest declines in history this week, with the Kospi falling about 20% in two trading days, as geopolitical tensions have, for the moment, shattered what might be termed a speculative bubble in popular AI-related names.

The rapid decline followed months of aggressive buying by retail investors that had sent the Kospi — dominated by Samsung and SK Hynix — higher by nearly 180% in about 10 months.

The timing has drawn attention to activity in Korea’s crypto markets, where trading volumes have begun to climb again.

South Korea is one of the few markets where retail traders play a major role in both equities and digital assets. Analysts have long observed that local traders often rotate…