American Stocks ETF Tracking Korean Stocks: EWY Surges 174% in One Year, Binance Announces Launch of EWY Perpetual Futures

Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, announced the launch of the iShares MSCI South Korea ETF, a major U.S. stock ETF tracking the South Korean stock market. Traders can use up to 10x leverage to trade EWY, which has gained approximately 174% over the past year, making it one of the strongest markets globally in 2025. Among EWY’s top holdings, 23% is Samsung Electronics and 19.76% is SK Hynix, making it an ETF highly exposed to the Korean tech industry.

Binance Launches Korean Stock ETF: EWY

Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, announced that on March 16, 2026, at 21:30 (UTC+8), it will list the EWYUSDT perpetual contract on its derivatives platform, supporting up to 10x leverage. The contract tracks the iShares MSCI South Korea ETF, allowing crypto traders to directly participate in the price movements of the Korean stock market using USDT.

According to the announcement, the EWYUSDT perpetual contract is settled in USDT, with a minimum price fluctuation of 0.01, a minimum order size of 0.01 EWY, and a minimum nominal value of 5 USDT. The funding rate cap is set at ±2%, settled every 8 hours, and supports multi-asset trading modes. This means traders can trade Korea-related assets 24/7 in the crypto derivatives market.

Korean Stock ETF Experiences Volatile Two Weeks: From All-Time Highs to Sharp Declines

Binance’s decision to launch the EWY contract comes as the ETF has experienced significant volatility. On February 25, EWY hit a 52-week high, with many crypto influencers sharing that EWY had already gained a year’s worth of growth. Over the past year, EWY increased by about 174%, becoming one of the top-performing markets globally in 2025. The rally was mainly driven by explosive demand for AI and memory chips, especially with semiconductor giants like Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix soaring.

However, geopolitical tensions in early March quickly reversed market sentiment.

On March 3: Escalation of conflicts in the Middle East and soaring oil prices caused EWY to plummet about 10.3% in a single day.

On March 5: South Korea’s stock market plunged about 12%, with EWY falling approximately 6.4%.

From March 6 to March 9: Market panic eased slightly, and EWY experienced a technical rebound of about 5%.

Over 50% Exposure to the Tech Sector in Korean Stock ETF

EWY tracks the MSCI Korea 25/50 Index, with a highly concentrated asset allocation in large South Korean stocks, over 50% of which are in the technology sector, including semiconductors and memory chips. Due to the ETF’s heavy concentration in a few leading companies, the Korean stock market often moves in sync with the global AI and memory chip cycles. When market risk sentiment rises, foreign and quantitative funds tend to withdraw quickly, amplifying volatility.

Top 10 Holdings of EWY (iShares MSCI South Korea ETF):

005930.KS — Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. — 23.44%

000660.KS — SK Hynix Inc. — 19.76%

005380.KS — Hyundai Motor Company — 3.22%

402340.KS — SK Square Co., Ltd. — 2.25%

105560.KS — KB Financial Group Inc. — 2.08%

000270.KS — Kia Corporation — 1.74%

034020.KS — Doosan Enerbility Co., Ltd. — 1.72%

055550.KS — Shinhan Financial Group Co., Ltd. — 1.51%

012450.KS — Hanwha Aerospace Co., Ltd. — 1.46%

068270.KS — Celltrion, Inc. — 1.37%

Crypto Exchanges Are Tokenizing Global Assets

Binance’s launch of the EWYUSDT perpetual contract also reflects a broader trend: crypto exchanges are mapping global asset markets into the crypto derivatives space.

From US stock indices, gold, to ETFs of various countries, more traditional financial assets are being traded through crypto derivatives. For traders, this means 24/7 access to global markets, settlement in stablecoins, and leverage to amplify volatility opportunities. High-beta ETFs like EWY, which are inherently volatile, could become new targets for short-term traders.

Users interested in trading the EWYUSDT contract can register through exchange invitation links provided by Chain News.

This article, “South Korean Stock ETF: EWY Surges 174% in a Year, Binance Announces Launch of EWY Perpetual Contract,” first appeared on Chain News ABMedia.