Everyone's Saying "Going to Buy Yen"... Super Weak Yen Sparks 'Entech' Craze, Even Breaking Savings Plans

Surge in Yen Deposit Balances and Growing Interest in Yen ETFs
Experts Say "Not Attractive from a Long-Term Investment Perspective"

# College student A (22), who is planning a trip to Japan this winter, has recently been very interested in 'Enteche' (Yen + investment). Watching the yen exchange rate closely for currency exchange, A said, "When the exchange rate dropped to the 910 won range, I thought it wouldn't go any lower, so I exchanged money, but it dropped to the 890 won range," adding, "I was wondering whether it would be better to exchange more money than needed for the trip for investment purposes."

Recently, as the won-yen exchange rate fell to the 800 won range for the first time in over eight years and the yen's value plunged sharply, interest in Enteche?buying yen to earn exchange gains?has been rising among people in their 20s and 30s. Various online communities are flooded with posts asking about the right time to exchange currency and advice to exchange a lot while the rate is cheap. Some have even broken their savings accounts to buy yen, thinking it might yield higher returns than savings.

As Interest in 'Enteche' Grows... Experts Warn "Yen Investment Is Risky Due to High Volatility"

As more people buy yen expecting the won-yen exchange rate to rise from its current level, the balance of yen deposits at commercial banks has also surged. According to the financial sector on the 10th, the balance at the four major commercial banks (KB Kookmin, Shinhan, Hana, Woori) stood at 860.12038 billion yen (approximately 7.8856 trillion won) as of the end of June, a 26.5% increase compared to the previous month’s 679.58340 billion yen (approximately 6.2304 trillion won).

Interest is also growing in yen exchange-traded funds (ETFs), which allow Enteche without exchanging currency or opening accounts. According to the Korea Exchange on the 23rd of last month, the net assets of Mirae Asset Management’s 'TIGER Japan Yen Futures ETF,' the only ETF in Korea that directly invests in yen, surpassed 60 billion won.

However, experts unanimously advise caution in yen investment because it is difficult to predict exchange rate volatility.

Baek Seok-hyun, an economist at Shinhan Bank, told Yonhap News, "While yen can be invested in from a safe asset perspective, investing with the expectation of yen appreciation is not very attractive from a long-term investor’s point of view," adding, "It is better not to invest too large a portion of your investment assets in yen."

Also, according to Dong-A Ilbo, Shin Se-don, a professor in the Department of Economics at Sookmyung Women’s University, pointed out, "Stocks have an overall trend whether rising or falling, but exchange rates are much more volatile than stocks," and warned, "It is very risky for young people with limited funds to invest a significant portion of their assets in yen to gain exchange rate profits."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.