Asia Market Daily: Samsung and SK Hynix to Unveil $650B Chip Investment in South Korea (2026/6/28)

South Korea's presidential office announced that Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix will reveal major investment plans at a briefing chaired by President Lee Jae-myung on Monday. The two chip giants are expected to commit over 1,000 trillion won (approximately $650 billion) over the next decade, potentially including the development of a semiconductor cluster in the southwest Honam region. Samsung Chairman Lee Jae-yong and SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won will attend the event with discussions on regional balanced growth. The announcement comes as part of the government's "three super projects" aimed at advancing industrial infrastructure.

The United States conducted new military strikes on Iranian targets in response to attacks on commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, a critical trade route for Asian oil imports. The Joint Maritime Information Center subsequently raised the security threat level for the strait from "medium" to "high," signaling elevated risk for vessels. The escalation has direct implications for Asian energy supply chains and market stability, with potential knock-on effects on crypto markets in the region as geopolitical uncertainty intensifies.

On-chain data shows Wang Chun, a former key figure at Binance, withdrew another 4,950 ETH (around $7.74 million) from the exchange. Since May 26, her total withdrawals have reached 91,945 ETH (approximately $159.9 million) and 973 WBTC (about $60.72 million) . The sustained outflows from Binance highlight shifting whale activity and could influence liquidity and sentiment on the platform, which is the largest exchange in Asia by volume.

Changpeng Zhao, founder of Binance, attributed the crypto market downturn to three factors: escalating geopolitical tensions, massive capital flows into AI, and the cyclical nature of crypto. Bitcoin has fallen roughly 50% from its all-time high of $126,000 last October, trading near $60,000. CZ remained confident in the industry's long-term trajectory, noting that while AI diverted short-term liquidity, it ultimately benefits the space and that prediction markets add value through price discovery.

He Yi, co-founder of Binance, stated that regulatory challenges are a natural part of industry growth, drawing parallels to Uber and Airbnb. She emphasized that Binance remains committed to building trust and communication with European regulators despite recent hurdles. The comments underscore the exchange's focus on compliance amid increasing global scrutiny of crypto platforms.

Over the past 30 days, Binance's Bitcoin balance saw net inflows of 13,825.87 BTC , while OKX recorded significant outflows of 11,161.42 BTC . The divergence indicates shifting trader preferences among major Asian exchanges, with Binance gaining a larger share of Bitcoin holdings. Bybit also saw inflows of 6,235.82 BTC, pointing to healthy accumulation on some platforms despite broader market weakness.

On-chain monitoring revealed that four addresses collectively sold 37,598 ETH for roughly $58.69 million in USDS at an average price of about $1,560. Large-scale sales on public blockchains often signal bearish sentiment among whales, potentially influencing Asia-based retail traders given the dominant role of Ethereum in the region's DeFi and trading activity.

With the U.S. restricting access to Anthropic's advanced models for two weeks, Asian companies are accelerating homegrown solutions. Chinese cybersecurity firm 360 launched Tulongfeng, a vulnerability-finding AI tool aimed at competing with Anthropic's offerings, while Japan's Sakana AI released a new model, Fugu, matching capabilities of restricted models. The move underscores Asia's push for self-reliance in foundational AI technologies amid geopolitical tech constraints.

South Korea established an interagency body to tackle AI-enabled crimes including deepfake fraud, financial scams, and deceptive ads. The new group includes the police, financial commission, and communications regulators among others. The initiative reflects Asia's proactive regulatory approach to emerging tech threats as AI-driven crimes become more sophisticated.