Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, the two companies that collectively produce roughly two-thirds of the world’s memory chips, saw their shares plunge more than 7% on August 3, dragging the Kospi index down 5% and pulling the broader MSCI emerging markets index lower by 1.1%.
Meanwhile, Bitcoin sat near $64,000 like someone calmly reading a book while the house next door caught fire.
What goes up 17% must come down
To understand the scale of Monday’s selloff, you need to rewind to the previous trading session on July 31. SK Hynix surged as much as 28.4% in a single day. Samsung gained 23.7%. Together, they powered the Kospi to a record single-session surge of more than 17%.
Throughout July 2026, the Kospi suffered multiple sharp declines ranging from 10.8% to 11.5%, severe enough to trigger trading halts and circuit breakers. The catalyst each time was the same: mounting anxiety about whether the AI investment boom could sustain the sky-high demand projections baked into semiconductor valuations.
