Daily Tech and Finance Briefing — October 29, 2026
Bitcoin bounced back past $81,000, driven by a surge in Asian semiconductor stocks, though growing short positions among whale investors are fueling market volatility. Amid corrections in the domestic stock market, local funds have flooded into 4% annual bank deposits, pushing fixed deposit balances past 1,000 trillion won and intensifying competition among financial institutions. Meanwhile, in the tech sector, LG Uplus's on-device AI battery optimization technology has been accepted at an international conference, marking continued efforts to improve AI performance.
Daily Tech and Finance Briefing — October 29, 2026
Markets, Crypto, and Exchange Rates
Bitcoin (BTC) broke past $81,400 as Asian semiconductor stocks surged, while frog-themed meme coins like Pepe (PEPE) gained 9% to lead a broader altcoin rally.
However, as Bitcoin bounced back after briefly slipping below $80,000, short positions among whale investors expanded for the first time since June, raising questions about the sustainability of the recovery.
Historical data shows that Bitcoin tends to surge by an average of over 50% in the 12 months following a US midterm election, and the S&P 500 index has similarly delivered a 15% return over the same period.
Galaxy Digital analyzed that favorable conditions are in place for Bitcoin to reclaim the $125,000 mark, noting that the bear market ended in June and selling pressure has eased.
Meanwhile, despite Ripple's legal victory involving banks, XRP failed to mount a rebound, and the broader cryptocurrency market shows signs of weakness.
Savings and Banking Products
As sidelined investment funds shrink amid sharp corrections in the local stock market, time deposit balances across South Korea's top five commercial banks increased by over 11 trillion won this month to surpass 1,017 trillion won.
Amid this trend, office workers and retail investors are moving even stock deposit funds into bank time deposits. Commercial banks are stepping up deposit rate competition by rolling out special products offering up to 4% annual interest to lock in funds.
Bolstered by increased overseas semiconductor investments, resident foreign currency deposits in South Korea surpassed $150 billion, hitting an all-time high of $154.7 billion at the end of September.
Tech New Products
LG Uplus announced that two research papers on its "on-device intelligence" token optimization technology—which boosts AI processing speeds by 4.5 times and cuts battery consumption by 77%—have been accepted to the NeurIPS 2026 workshop.
In the smartphone market, official releases for new products such as the Infinix GT 50 Pro and Huawei Pura 90 Plus are scheduled between October 26 and November 1.
Anticipation is building for new smartphone launches from major manufacturers in November, including the Motorola Signature 27 and Vivo X500.
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