According to CoinMeta, in a retail investment study conducted in September 2026, South Korea exhibited a 95.7% year-on-year increase in interest in online stocks and cryptocurrencies, ranking first among 45 countries. The study analyzed Google Trends data for 2025 and 2026 to compare the frequency at which people searched for information on investing in stocks and cryptocurrencies. It also evaluated changes over the past 13 weeks compared to the same period last year and examined four-week search trends to determine if this interest was sustained. The study found that South Korea's stock market value accounted for 147.2% of its gross domestic product, highlighting the relative size of its domestic stock market relative to its economy.