With a trading share of over 18% and 10% of the population participating, Koreans are pushing the cryptocurrency market to a "new height"

As AI hype permeates the cryptocurrency circle, risk-loving Korean traders have made a big push, pushing AI tokens to a "new height".

According to data from research firm Kaiko, South Korea's share of weekly global AI token trading soared to 18.7% in May from 0.6% in mid-2023, which are usually issued by early projects that try to apply blockchain technology to AI services.

In addition, since February, the average weekly trading volume of Korean AI tokens has reached $8 billion, a surge of more than 26 times from the historical low of $300 million in mid-2023.

Many Koreans have a soft spot for both AI and cryptocurrencies. The study pointed out that about 10% of the Korean population participated in token trading, and small, more volatile tokens - not market-leading Bitcoin and Ethereum - constituted the main force of trading.

These small tokens are also one of the best performing assets in the cryptocurrency market this year.

According to Coingecko data, the market capitalization of tokens such as Fetch.ai, SingularityNET, Akash Network and Render has more than doubled this year.

In addition, data from the Korea Securities Depository shows that Nvidia, the biggest "shovel seller" of AI, and Microsoft, which bet on ChatGPT, are the second and third most popular overseas stocks among Korean investors this year.

But given the historical volatility of the cryptocurrency market, some question whether people's interest in AI tokens can last.

"While Nvidia is seen as a pure AI investment and the best way to gain exposure to this field, the investment prospects of AI tokens are less clear," said Kaiko analyst Dessislava Aubert.