According to the office of a South Korean lawmaker, retail investors have lost an estimated 2.3 trillion won (approximately $1.7 billion) in just a few months from investing in leveraged exchange-traded products that track the country's two major chipmakers. This marks the first time the scale of risk involved in such bets has been disclosed.

The office of Choi Eun-sik, a lawmaker from the opposition People Power Party, stated that between May 27 and August 14, clients at 10 South Korean brokerage firms incurred these losses from investing in single-stock ETFs and related notes linked to Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix.

These single-stock products, since their launch in May, have intensified volatility in South Korea's AI-focused stock market. Previously, leveraged bets had helped drive the market to become one of the best performers globally, but the trend later reversed, leading to severe consequences.

The sharp fluctuations caused by these high-risk products prompted regulators to take action to curb retail investor frenzy, and trading volumes subsequently dropped significantly.