Bank Employee Lost $4.8M on SK Hynix Leveraged ETF in One Month, Down from $7M Peak

According to Munhwa Daily via the Blind anonymous community, a South Korean bank employee saw his investment portfolio plummet from 700 million won ($4.8 million) to 220 million won ($2.2 million) in recent weeks after deploying 2x leveraged ETF products on SK Hynix shares. Starting with 200 million won in October, the investor had built his account to 550 million won by May 2026, but reversed course on the assumption semiconductor stocks remained undervalued, deploying 700 million won into leveraged positions. The sharp decline in chip stocks erased most gains in roughly one month.

The investor acknowledged in his post that 2x leverage amplified losses, noting he could have preserved 50% of remaining capital had he avoided the leveraged product entirely. Despite retaining a 10% overall gain from his initial investment, he expressed significant psychological distress over the rapid drawdown from peak paper profits.