#Middle school student Choe Dong-u, 15, analyzed coin prices and made tidy revenue by buying and selling related exchange-traded funds (ETFs). He invested in the "T-Rex MSTR Target 2x" ETF, which tracks twice the daily moves of U.S. MicroStrategy, known as a corporation with large bitcoin holdings. Choe said, "An investment YouTuber I subscribe to analyzed that coin prices could rise at the end of the year," and added, "I saved my allowance and also bought a little bitcoin futures ETF."
Minor "little ants," young investors keen on stocks, are flocking to virtual asset investing. Under current law, minors cannot directly trade virtual assets on domestic coin exchanges. Instead, kids have found an alternative by investing in ETFs that track coin futures or related stocks. They are also aggressively betting on leveraged products that track at least twice the moves of share prices.
According to NH Investment & Securities, over the past five years (Jan. 1, 2021–Sep. 16, 2025), four of the top 30 ETFs net bought by minor investors were virtual-asset-related products. They were: ▲ "2x Ethereum," which tracks twice the price of ether (No. 13) ▲ "T-Rex MSTR Target 2x," based on MicroStrategy stock (No. 25) ▲ "YieldMax MSTR Option Income Strategy" (No. 27) ▲ "YieldMax COIN Option Income Strategy," which has Coinbase stock as its underlying asset (No. 29).
Minor investors net bought the ETFs in question totaling 6.4 billion won. This year alone, they purchased about 2.1 billion won of related ETFs.
They are showing interest in virtual-asset-related ETFs because direct investment, like adults, is impossible. On domestic coin exchanges such as Upbit and Bithumb, only adults age 19 or older can trade. On some overseas exchanges such as Binance, limited transactions were possible even without know-your-customer (KYC), but since 2023, as overseas exchanges also tightened KYC procedures, transactions in virtual assets by minors have become impossible.
Minors who cannot directly trade virtual assets are choosing ETFs as a detour. As discussions on introducing virtual-asset ETFs and stablecoins domestically have taken place recently, interest in virtual assets has grown, and because these assets have large price swings, those seeking high returns have turned to investing in related ETFs.
An aggressive tendency to pursue short-term revenue is also evident. For some leveraged products, the purchase amount itself ranked high, but the sell amount was much larger during the same period. It is interpreted that "short-term trading" aimed at quick gains was active.
From Jan. 1 to Sep. 16 this year, minor investors bought 4.3 billion won worth of the "Ethereum 2x" and "Bitcoin Strategy 2x" ETFs, but as the sell amount was larger, they were net sellers overall by 450 million won.
Experts said minors' interest in virtual assets can be seen as a new investment trend, but advised against speculative trading that chases only short-term revenue. They noted that a sound investment profile can be developed only by approaching the market based on an understanding of market conditions and product structures.
According to Hana Bank's "2025 Korea Wealth Report," 29% of the young rich (wealthy under 40) saw virtual assets as "a risky but worthwhile investment destination," and actually held them. That is three times the level of the old rich (wealthy 50 and older). One-fourth of the young rich began investing in stocks as minors or before getting a job.
Yun Sun-young, a research fellow at Hana Institute of Finance, said, "The wealthy tend to study sufficiently before investing and invest in areas they know well," and added, "Interest in new investment areas and the effort to learn about them should come first."