An electronic board at a Shinhan Bank branch in central Seoul displays the Kospi index on Monday, as the benchmark index opened lower amid renewed tensions in the Middle East over the weekend. (Yoon Chang-bin/The Korea Herald) Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, is offering derivatives with leverage of up to 50 times on Samsung Electronics and SK hynix, raising concerns over investor protection and potential spillover risks for Korea's stock market.The products come as investors are already debating the risks posed by newly launched 2x leveraged exchange-traded funds tied to the two chipmakers on the Kospi.According to industry sources on Monday, Binance launched SAMSUNGUSDT, SKHYNIXUSDT and HYUNDAIUSDT this month, allowing traders to take leveraged positions on Samsung Electronics, SK hynix and Hyundai Motor. The contracts initially offered leverage of up to 20 times before Binance raised the cap on the Samsung Electronics and SK hynix products to 50 times following strong demand.On June 22, Binance also listed KORUUSDT, a derivative linked to KORU, a US-listed ETF designed to deliver three times the daily return of the Kospi. Four days later, it introduced a version offering leverage of up to 50 times.Combined with KORU's built-in 3x leverage, the product effectively gives traders exposure equivalent to as much as 150 times the daily movement of the Kospi. Though a 1 percent rise in the index could theoretically generate returns of up to 150 percent, even a modest decline could wipe out an investor's position.The products are easily accessible to Korean investors. Users can purchase Tether with won through domestic cryptocurrency exchanges such as Upbit and Bithumb before transferring the tokens to Binance for trading, a route industry officials say is already widely used.Trading volumes have surged.According to TradingView, KORUUSDT recorded trading volume of $754.4 million, or 1.16 trillion won, last week alone. SKHYNIXUSDT generated cumulative trading volume of $6.42 billion, or 9.86 trillion won, between June 2 and June 26, nearing the 10 trillion won mark.The rapid growth of the products has exposed a regulatory gap.Products offering this level of leverage cannot be listed on Korea's regulated securities market, yet similar instruments remain available through offshore cryptocurrency exchanges beyond the direct reach of Korean regulators.Industry officials also warned that trading activity and liquidity are increasingly shifting overseas, allowing exchanges such as Binance to capture fees that would otherwise remain within Korea's capital markets.Some market participants said the products could also add to volatility in domestic equities. Because Binance trades around the clock while Korea's stock market closes overnight, sharp swings in Korea-linked derivatives could influence investor sentiment before local trading resumes.Analysts also warned that extreme leverage could amplify market moves through forced liquidations, as even small price swings can trigger automatic sell-offs."In Korea, investors must complete mandatory training before trading even 2x leveraged ETFs. No comparable safeguards exist on Binance," a cryptocurrency industry official said.Kim Min-seung, head of research at Korbit, said a sudden sell-off in Korea-linked derivatives on Binance could create additional uncertainty when domestic markets reopen the following day.