When it comes to changing one's fate through speculation, Koreans are definitely a landslide in East Asia.

According to a set of crypto asset business reports released by the South Korean Financial Intelligence Service, as of the end of 2023, the number of active users of registered exchanges in South Korea has increased by 390,000, and the total number of cryptocurrency traders has exceeded 6.45 million.

You should know that the total population of South Korea is only more than 51 million, which means that less than one in ten people is speculating in cryptocurrencies. The vast majority of them are personal investors, and the age range is mainly concentrated between 30 and 40 years old.

The report also noted that South Korea’s daily cryptocurrency trading volume has increased by 24% over the past year to nearly 3.6 trillion won, or $2.6 billion, while the total market value of cryptocurrencies held by registered exchanges has soared by 53% to 44 trillion won.

In the first quarter of this year, the Korean won beat the US dollar to become the currency with the largest cryptocurrency trading volume in the world, and Upb1t has ranked among the top five cryptocurrency exchanges in the world.

The data shows that Koreans are serious about getting rich overnight. After everyone started speculating in stocks, real estate, and unlimited lottery tickets, the Korean country has once again started a crazy cryptocurrency speculation mode, and countless young people are once again standing on the rooftop of their dreams.

In fact, as early as 2017, 20% of the world's Bitcoin transactions were conducted in South Korea. At its peak, the sales price of Bitcoin in South Korea was even 20%-40% more expensive than the international market.

The premium is so high, of course, not because Koreans have any understanding of "blockchain" or "decentralization". The only thing they care about is how to make a comeback in cryptocurrency speculation and stop immediately after making a lot of money.

There is also a special term in the circle, called "graduation".

However, only a few can graduate, while many people lose money and even jump into the river.

In June 2021, a cryptocurrency version of a Ponzi scheme broke out in South Korea, in which 70,000 people were defrauded of nearly 4 trillion won, or about 22.1 billion yuan. Many of them were retired elderly people who didn't even understand the terms.

In May 2022, the Bitcoin, known as the "Moutai of the cryptocurrency world," plummeted. In less than a month, its market value dropped from $119 to less than $0.0002 per coin. More than 200,000 South Koreans lost all their money, and there was a long queue of people searching for "Mapo Bridge" online.

This Mapo Bridge is a popular spot for Koreans to jump into the river.

Before the painful memories lasted a year, Koreans were once again on the rooftop of cryptocurrency speculation.

Then the question arises, the scythe of the cryptocurrency world keeps waving, why do Koreans continue to throw their heads forward?

In fact, Koreans are not only obsessed with cryptocurrencies. Anything related to speculation, such as stock speculation, real estate speculation, and lottery tickets, can trigger the collective pursuit of this country.

According to media reports, as early as 2021, the number of active stock accounts in South Korea exceeded 60 million, 10 million more than the total population.

350,000 Korean shareholders who hold Samsung Electronics are under the age of 20, and even primary school students can be seen at the annual shareholder meeting.

In 2021, lottery sales in South Korea amounted to nearly 6 trillion won, equivalent to 31.9 billion yuan, and the industry's compound growth rate was close to 10%. About 61.8% of Koreans buy lottery tickets at least once a year.

There is a popular saying in the Korean workplace: always have two pieces of paper at work, one for the lottery ticket and one for your resignation.

Young people focus on getting rich overnight, while the middle class plays the game of pass the parcel.

Last year, the Eggshell Apartment in South Korea collapsed. In essence, the landlords used the tenants' deposits to speculate in real estate. As a result, the bank's interest rate hike led to a funding shortage. A large number of landlords ran away because they could not pay the deposits. In the end, the ones who fell into the trap were the young people who could not get their deposits back.

Behind all the crazy speculation is a rather helpless reality.

Because class stratification in Korean society has become very serious, speculation is the only way for young people to change their destiny.

In fact, since the outbreak of the Asian financial crisis in 1997, Korean society no longer believes in the beautiful legend of "getting rich through hard work".

Because the United States controls South Korea's financial system and the economic lifelines of a large number of core enterprises, South Korea has no choice but to switch to a new normal of development with slow income growth and extremely unstable jobs. The situation is not much better than that of the other side.

It was in this environment that Korean society felt the triple effects of sterilization, aging, and the widening gap between the rich and the poor in advance.

Do you know how outrageous the prices in Korea are?

According to data released by South Korean media, in April this year, the prices of food and beverages in South Korea rose by 3% year-on-year, the prices of agricultural products rose by 20.3%, and even fried rice cakes and kimchi bibimbap rose by 5%.

The price of cherry tomatoes in the supermarket is equivalent to RMB 57 per kilogram, 1.2 kilograms of beef is 528 yuan, 10 kilograms of rice is 153, 9 kilograms of apples is 290, and 3 kilograms of potatoes is 62;

In other words, Koreans' wages are about 40% higher than those in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen, but prices are 2 to 4 times higher.

So when a "low-income earner" finds out that despite working overtime to get good fortune, he still earns less than one-third of the monthly salary of a "high-income earner" after a year's work, and his salary does not increase, while housing and commodity prices are soaring, all his efforts become meaningless.

This desperate living situation has directly pushed young people in South Korea to two extremes.

Some people have begun to pursue extreme stability. If they cannot get a job as a slave in a large company, they will frantically practice questions and take the civil service exam. In South Korea, civil servants are also known as "God's workplace" and are an absolute "iron rice bowl."

The other part of the population mostly chooses to go all in on their lives. According to data, more than 60% of Koreans dream of getting rich overnight through stocks, lotteries and cryptocurrency trading, and the number of investors in South Korea has exceeded 20% of the country's population.

In this country where wealth is overly concentrated and housing is ridiculously expensive, speculation may be the closest thing Koreans have to changing their destiny.

Although the probability is very low or even negligible, more and more Koreans have chosen to go for it. If they cannot soar into the sky, they will only be shattered to pieces.

The templates are different, but the trends are the same.

When society blocks the path to upward mobility, young people can only lie low or go all in on life. #内容挖矿

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