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[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Jin-ho] The 2030 MZ generation (Millennials + Generation Z) is experiencing a fervent craze for financial investment. Investment options range from high-yield opportunities like stocks and Bitcoin to safe assets such as gold. Recently, the so-called resell tech?buying and selling secondhand luxury goods?has also emerged as a new cultural trend.

According to the financial sector on the 24th, as of March this year, 51.8% of individual investors who opened general product accounts at securities firms to trade on the ‘KRX (Korea Exchange) Gold Market’ were in their 20s and 30s.

The reason the MZ generation is focusing on gold investment is that it offers a good investment destination that balances both ‘stability and profitability.’ Due to the excessive volatility of cryptocurrencies and the stock market continuously hitting new highs, they are turning their attention to gold, a ‘safe asset.’

As the MZ generation actively enters gold investment, the market size is also rapidly growing. The average daily trading value in the first half of this year was 8.26 billion KRW, a 13.8% increase compared to the previous year. The average daily trading volume also rose by 19.4% during the same period to 126.2 kg.

The MZ generation’s enthusiasm for highly volatile coins continues as well. According to the financial sector, as of the end of April, the four major domestic virtual asset exchanges (Bithumb, Upbit, Korbit, Coinone) had 5.81 million registered users. It is known that about 60% of these users belong to the MZ generation.

The MZ generation’s craze for coin investment, willing to endure high volatility for high returns, stems from soaring asset prices and the fear of becoming ‘struck by lightning poverty’ if they remain idle. According to the U.S. investment platform E*TRADE, 70% of individual investors aged 18 to 34 responded that their ‘risk tolerance’ has increased since COVID-19. A report from a domestic bank shows a similar situation in Korea.

Recently, the resell market for secondhand luxury goods has also gained popularity among the MZ generation. If an item has popularity and rarity, they are willing to pay a premium to purchase it and then resell it in the future when its value rises.

According to data released by the secondhand trading platform ‘Bungaejangter’ in December last year, MZ generation’s secondhand transactions from January to November last year reached 11 million cases, an 11% increase compared to the same period the previous year. The transaction amount rose by 19% to 1.1 trillion KRW. About 70% of all transactions were conducted by the MZ generation.

The most popular resell product among the MZ generation is shoes. This is called ‘Shoetech (shoes + financial tech),’ characterized by relatively moderate prices but high demand and soaring prices due to rarity. For example, a pair of shoes released through a collaboration between Big Bang’s G-Dragon and Nike had a retail price of 219,000 KRW but soared to an astonishing 13 million KRW in the resell market, a 5,836% increase.

However, behind the MZ generation’s investment craze lies a rapid increase in household loans, raising concerns. There are criticisms that ‘debt investment (bit-tu)’ and ‘soul-squeezing loans (yeong-kkeul)’?borrowing excessively to invest in real estate, stocks, and coins?have become excessive.

In fact, according to the financial sector, the scale of household loans lent by domestic banks to the MZ generation reached 259.6 trillion KRW as of the end of March this year, increasing by 44.7 trillion KRW over one year. In particular, the proportion of the MZ generation in the total increase in household loans rose from 33.7% in 2019 to 45.5% in 2020. This year, it has reached 50.7%.