Key Highlights
- Massive Price Crash: Despite BitMine’s stock price plummeting by over 80% from its peak this year, South Korean retail investors have refused to sell, choosing instead to “buy the dip.”
- Huge Financial Bet: These individual traders, known as the “Ant Army,” have poured a staggering $1.4 billion into the company in 2025, making it their second favorite foreign stock after Google.
- Ether Hoarding Strategy: Investor interest exploded after BitMine pivoted from mining to becoming a massive “digital vault,” now holding roughly $12 billion worth of the digital currency Ether.
- Double-or-Nothing Risks: Many traders are using high-risk “leveraged” funds to double their potential gains, even though these specific funds have crashed by as much as 86% in just a few months.
In the world of investing, there is a saying that you should never “catch a falling knife.” However, in South Korea, a massive group of individual investors often called the “Ant Army” for their sheer numbers and persistence is doing exactly that.
Recent financial reports show that these everyday traders are pouring hundreds of millions of dollars into a company called BitMine Immersion Technologies. What makes this move so surprising is that the company’s stock price has crashed by more than 80% from its peak earlier this year. While professional traders are running for the exits, South Korea’s retail investors are doubling down.
What is BitMine?
To understand why people are obsessed with this company, you first have to understand what it does. BitMine started as a firm that provided the high-tech cooling systems and buildings used to run powerful computers for digital currency mining.
However, in July 2024, the company made a dramatic pivot. It decided to stop focusing just on the “plumbing” of the digital world and started acting like a giant piggy bank for Ether, the second-largest digital currency after Bitcoin. The company’s goal is simple but bold: they want to own 5% of all the Ether in existence.
Today, BitMine is the largest corporate holder of Ether in the world, owning billions of dollars worth of the digital coin. For investors, buying a share of BitMine is like buying a piece of that massive digital vault.
The Rollercoaster Ride
When BitMine first announced its plan to hoard Ether, the stock market went wild. In early July, the share price skyrocketed by over 3,000%. At that moment, BitMine became the most popular international stock in South Korea, even beating out household names like Google and Tesla.
But the excitement didn’t last. As the price of Ether began to wobble and the company faced the reality of owning such a volatile asset, the stock began a painful slide. From its highest point in July to the end of 2025, the stock price has dropped by roughly 82%.
For most companies, an 80% drop would signal a total disaster. But for the “Ant Army,” it signaled a massive discount.
Why the “Ant Army” is Still Buying
Despite the staggering losses, South Korean investors have put a net total of $1.4 billion into BitMine throughout 2025. There are a few reasons for this unwavering loyalty:
- The “Buy the Dip” Mentality: Many South Korean retail investors believe that digital currencies are the future. They see the current price crash as a temporary setback and believe that by buying now, they will be positioned for huge profits when the market eventually recovers.
- High Risk, High Reward: The South Korean market is famous for its “appetite for risk.” Many young investors feel that traditional savings accounts or stable stocks won’t help them reach their financial goals in a competitive economy, so they seek out volatile stocks that have the potential to double or triple in value.
- Trust in Big Names: The company is backed by some very famous names in the financial world, including billionaire Peter Thiel (who helped start PayPal) and well-known Wall Street analyst Tom Lee. This high-level support gives regular investors confidence that the company isn’t just a flash in the pan.
Doubling the Risk
Perhaps the most shocking part of this trend is how some investors are choosing to buy. Instead of just buying the stock directly, many are using special “leveraged” funds. These funds are designed to move twice as much as the stock does.
If BitMine goes up by 5%, these investors make 10%. But it works both ways: if the stock drops by 5%, they lose 10%. One of these popular funds has dropped by a staggering 86% since September, yet money continues to flow into it. It’s a high-stakes game that highlights just how much these investors believe in an eventual comeback.
A Risky Future
While the passion of the “Ant Army” is impressive, experts are worried. The Bank of Korea recently pointed out that South Korea’s trading activity is much higher than the global average, which makes the local market more vulnerable to sudden, violent crashes.
Because BitMine’s value is almost entirely tied to the price of Ether, the company is at the mercy of the digital currency market. If Ether stays low, BitMine will continue to struggle. Furthermore, unlike some other companies that borrow money to buy assets, BitMine mostly raises money by selling more of its own stock. This can be safer for the company, but it often dilutes the value of the shares held by existing investors.
Conclusion
The story of BitMine and the South Korean “Ant Army” is a classic tale of modern investing. It is a battle between cautious financial logic and the bold belief that the “next big thing” is worth any amount of risk. For now, thousands of regular people are betting their hard-earned money that the 80% drop is just a blip on the radar, and that their “falling knife” will eventually turn into a rocket ship.
