Primitive Ventures founding partner Dovey Wan said in a post on X that South Korea may be one of the clearest indicators of late-cycle conditions in global risk assets. She linked that view to a pattern seen across crypto cycles, from the so-called kimchi premium to the current rush into “memory stocks.” According to Wan, the signal is not only about highly speculative local retail traders, but also about a market structure that amplifies that behavior. She pointed to South Korea’s launch of single-stock leveraged products on May 27, saying the underlying asset had already been rising at an almost vertical pace by that point. In her view, the timing matters: when leverage tools are added to the hottest names in an already crowded domestic market during a reflexive melt-up, the product launch itself can help mark a top. She added that in past crypto cycles, Korean exchanges often listed assets only after they had already gone parabolic elsewhere, leaving local retail traders as the final exit liquidity.
Primitive Ventures founding partner Dovey Wan said in a post on X that South Korea may be one of the clearest indicators of a late-cycle top in global risk assets.
Wan tied that view to a recurring pattern, from the “kimchi premium” seen in past crypto cycles to the current trading frenzy around “memory stocks.” She said the pattern reflects not just the extreme speculative behavior of Korean retail traders, which she described as “degens,” but also a local market structure that adds fuel to that speculation.
Leverage launched after a near-vertical move
Wan said South Korea introduced single-stock leveraged products on May 27, at a point when the underlying asset had already posted gains that were close to a vertical surge. She said local retail traders tend to pour in when a market narrative is reaching peak intensity.
She contrasted that with investors in Hong Kong-listed leveraged products, who, in her description, had several months of upside cushion before reaching a similar point.
Why she sees it as a top signal
According to Wan, when an already crowded domestic equity market adds leverage tools to its hottest stocks after those assets have entered a reflexive melt-up phase, the launch itself starts to look like a topping signal.
She said the same setup appears in every crypto cycle. In her account, Korean local exchanges often list an asset only after it has already gone parabolic on other global venues, leaving Korean retail traders as the final source of exit liquidity.
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