A poster for "Squid Game" Season 2 / Capture from internet
History doesn’t allow hypotheticals. Neither does investing.
Still, it is nonetheless intriguing to imagine how the return on one’s investment might have been ㅡ however futile and pointless it may be.
Seong Gi-hun, the main character played by Lee Jung-jae in the popular Netflix drama, "Squid Game," won a prize of 45.6 billion won ($31.3 million) in Season 1.
What if the prize had been given in Bitcoin? By the release of Season 2, his assets would have surged to 72.4 billion won.
Had he invested in Samsung Electronics shares, his assets would have dropped to 31.6 billion won.
If he had received the prize in U.S. dollars? The conversion would have left him with 56.54 billion won in his account, as the Korean won depreciated by 24 percent during that time.
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According to global cryptocurrency platform CoinMarketCap, Bitcoin traded at 148.22 million won, Dec. 26, 2024, when season 2 of the series was released. It is up 159 percent from 57.28 million won, Sept. 17, 2021, right around when season 1 was released.
The growth of Bitcoin as an asset vehicle was the highest in 2024.
According to NH Investment & Securities, bitcoin jumped 136.3 percent in value, whereas gold increased 42.2 percent. The U.S. S&P 500 rose 26.6 percent.
The main KOSPI bourse sank 8.1 percent.
Samsung Electronics' share price was 77,200 won in September 2024, but it has since dropped to 53,600 won.
In September 2021, the global reserve currency was valued at 1,181 won, but by the time the won-dollar rate surged to around 1,467 won, the U.S. dollar had gained 24 percent in value.
Bitcoin topped $108,000, Dec. 17, 2024, an all-time high.
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