CoinDesk
Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix are committing roughly $518 billion to build four new chip fabrication plants in South Korea's southwest, accelerating the country's DRAM output target from 2044 to 2034 or 2035 to keep up with surging demand for high-bandwidth memory used in AI training. The two firms together supply most of the world's HBM and have locked in deals with Nvidia and OpenAI, while SK Hynix separately announced plans for a roughly $29 billion U.S. listing, among the largest ever, to fund further expansion.
Why it matters
The buildout is the largest single commitment yet to a capital cycle that has competed with crypto for investor dollars all year. SK Hynix has become South Korea's most valuable listed company, passing Samsung for the first time in 25 years, on the strength of HBM demand alone. Gabe Selby of CF Benchmarks said most of the new money and attention has flowed into AI plays, leaving crypto fighting for a smaller share of overall risk appetite.
The rotation is showing up in places that used to feed crypto directly. When gold, silver and bitcoin sold off together in recent weeks as a hedge trade unwound, the cash leaving those hard assets moved into AI stocks rather than back into bitcoin. Even bitcoin miners have been redirecting computing capacity toward AI hosting, where contracted payments beat the swings of mining revenue.
Market impact
Bitcoin is close to closing the first half of 2026 below $60,000 and sitting near its 200-week moving average, a long-term trend line that has marked extended weak stretches before. Crypto fell through much of the month even on days when AI chip stocks rebounded, a divergence that captures how investors are framing the two classes right now. South Korea's $518 billion bet is a decade-long wager that AI infrastructure spending is structural rather than a passing boom, and the open question is whether that capital eventually circles back to crypto or stays put.
Frequently asked questions
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Why are Samsung and SK Hynix spending $518 billion on chip plants?
To roughly double South Korea's DRAM output within five years, a timeline pulled forward by about a decade, to meet surging demand for high-bandwidth memory that powers AI training at firms like Nvidia and OpenAI.
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What is high-bandwidth memory and why does it matter for AI?
HBM is the specialised memory that feeds AI training chips and the large language models behind ChatGPT and Claude. SK Hynix and Samsung together supply most of the world's HBM, a position that recently made SK Hynix South Korea's most valuable listed company.
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How does this affect bitcoin and crypto?
The same pools of risk capital that funded bitcoin earlier in the cycle are rotating into AI chip stocks and AI listings. CF Benchmarks' Gabe Selby says new money has flowed into AI plays, leaving crypto to fight for a smaller share of overall risk appetite.
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Are bitcoin miners really moving into AI?
Yes. Several miners have been redirecting computing capacity toward AI hosting, where long-dated contracted payments beat the swings of mining revenue tied to bitcoin price and network difficulty.
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Where is bitcoin trading right now?
Bitcoin is near to closing the first half of 2026 below $60,000 and sitting close to its 200-week moving average, a long-term trend line that has marked extended weak stretches in past cycles.
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